My Heart's Desire
by SmAsHBrownGuy
Summary: A chapter story about the love between a certain group of girls and how their misadventures play into sweet romance. (Rated T for now but may be rated M later on depending on the story's intensity) [Ayano x Kyoko, Himawari x Sakurako, and other pairings to be decided at a later date.]
1. Girls Smell Like Pudding

A/N: Well, this is my first submission to FF, so please be honest about the ratings. This is set a few months after the anime's 2nd Season ending episode, and will follow the romances between Ayano x Kyoko, Himawari x Sakurako, and other pairings to be decided later. I anticipate making this story a chaptered series, but I don't know how long. It all depends on what the reviews are (please be honest) [I DO NOT OWN YURU YURI, I'M JUST A BIG FAN WHO HAS ALWAYS SHIPPED AYANO x KYOKO] Now let's close this long ass author's note and get on with the story (Final bit: I don't really see Chizuru going anywhere romantically since she doesn't seem the romantic type.)

* * *

The doors to the all to familiar student council room slid open with force, as the tsundere vice president, Ayano Sugiura burst through the doors, her thoughts filled partially (barely) with her duties, the Band Club needing new instruments, the Track Club requesting new uniforms, the Art Club needing new art supplies...but mainly, she thought of that wonderful blonde with the goofy smile and the insatiable hunger for rum raisin (as well as the occasional dose of Ayano's prized pudding she only splurged on once a month),

"TOSHINO KYOKO!" she exclaimed at the top of her lungs, startling her white-haired friend Chitose, behind her.

"My, my, Ayano, the love frustrations are getting to you again?", Chitose said to Ayano with closed eyes and small grin.

"Wh-wh-WHAT LOVE FRUSTRATIONS?! I HAVE NONE!" Ayano exclaimed, her face blushing a shade of red brighter than a tomato (Chitose thought she could see the steam coming off of it)

Chitose just grinned, trusting none of this and knowing the true feelings behind that blushing face.

"Oh Ayano..."

Of course, this wasn't an unfamiliar sight to Chitose, nor an unfamiliar situation for Ayano. Ayano's thoughts rarely strayed from the bodacious blonde. While Ayano and Chitose would walk around town, Ayano would lament over places that she would love to take Kyoko; at restaurants, Ayano would base her menu choices often on Kyoko's favorite foods; and while shopping for clothes, Ayano often found herself wearing things she either thought would appeal to Kyoko, or would look cute on Kyoko. She thought of herself as a proper mess, Chitose thought of it as the reason why she always had a packet of Kleenex in one of her pockets.

Chitose and Ayano sat calmly in the school office, engaging in normal chitchat as they went through their requisite forms and nonsuch as was the daily routine of the student council. Every few minutes or so Chitose would look over to Ayano's desk to see her gazing out her window in the direction of her true love's recluse, the Amusement Club. It would usually end with a small trail of blood trailing from Chitose's nose and Ayano eventually noticing, blushing, yelling angrily, and handing Chitose the box of tissues that was on the desk they shared. It continued like this for a little while until...

"Hey, Chitose..." Ayano said, gazing out the window, her mind obviously on Toshino Kyoko

"Yeah?" Chitose replied.

"I have to fill out this form about the Amusement Club," Ayano began, "but it seems I have to get signatures from all the club members, wanna go there with me?"

"Unfortunately, I have some more work to do," Chitose replied immediately, "but you can go on your own!" an enormous grin and a small trickle of blood erupted from her nose at the same time.

"O-on my own?" Ayano's face started to redden.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Chitose inquired.

"N-n-n-NOTHING! Nothing at all!" Ayano tried to act prideful, but her true feelings were oh, so visible "In fact, I'll go do that right now!"

Ayano got up and stormed out of the room, right in time to clash into Himawari and Sakurako, in the middle of one of their arguments as usual, but they stopped to greet Ayano, regardless.

"Hey Ayano!" Himwari and Sakurako said in unison.

Ayano just 'grr-ed' in reply and stormed off, down the stairs, and towards the Amusement Club.

"What's gotten into her?" Himawari asked in her usual demure voice.

"Love..." Chitose sighed.

"IKEDA-SENPAI!" Sakurako remarked at the blood that was drenching Chitose's face. It was beginning to get onto her lap.

"I'll get the tissues..." Himawari sighed as she walked towards the closet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ayano continued down the path to the Amusement Club, the path that she walked so many times, primarily on 'business', but Ayano knew deep in her heart that she just wanted an excuse to see Kyoko. To talk to her, and to enjoy her presence.

_I wonder if she's wearing that nice smelling perfume again..._

(A few days ago, Ayano 'accidentally' bumped into Kyoko as they were leaving class. She saw a chance, took it, and smelled Kyoko as deeply as she could in the few seconds of contact they had.)

_It was such a beautiful scent, my favorite smell, roses and...rum raisin? Nah...just roses. Sweet, pure, roses..._

"AAAAGGGHHH!" Ayano exclaimed to herself in the middle of the woods.

_Why am I having these feelings?!...And what can I do about it?...Maybe Chitose's right...Maybe I should confess..._

_No, I can't do that. But I know she likes girls, there was that night at Yui's house awhile ago..._

[FLASHBACK]

* * *

(2 months ago, Yui's house, Sleepover, people present: Yui, Chitose, Chinatsu, Ayano, Himawari, Sakurako, and Kyoko.

"HEY! WHAT ABOUT ME?!"

Oops, sorry Akari, have you been here the whole time?

"YES!"

Okay, okay, _and_ Akari)

"Alright, time for a party game!" Kyoko exclaimed as she produced the all-to-familiar pink idea box, except this time it was labeled 'TRUTH OR DARE' in big bolded letters.

"When did that get here!?" Yui exclaimed.

"I always have it on me!" Kyoko replied with a smug grin. "I take it home from the clubhouse each night, clean it, and bring it back in the morning before anyone can notice. I don't want anyone stealing this thing! It has too many precious memories."

"Like what?..." Yui muttered under her breath, which elicited a giggle from Chitose, despite her being on the other side of the circle they were sitting in

"_Does this girl have bionic hearing or something?_" Yui thought to herself. A quick image appeared in her head of Chitose with big floppy bunny ears, and her exclaiming

"I CAN HEAR ALL!"

After Yui recovered from her shock, Kyoko went on to explain the Truth or Dare rules, though everyone seemed familiar with them. It started with Akari.

'DARE: DO A HEADSTAND FOR THE REST OF THE GAME'

"Aw..." Akari weeped as she walked over to the walk and assumed the position.

"Okay! Yui, you're next, we're going clockwise!" Kyoko said as she handed the box to Yui who, reluctantly, drew a card.

'TRUTH: WHEN'S THE LAST TIME YOU MASTURBATED?'

"WHAT KIND OF PERVY GAME IS THIS?!" Yui exclaimed as she hit Kyoko on the back of her head, crumpled up her card and threw it to the ground.

Ayano looked onwards at her secret love, wishing that she could just 'fess up, go over and pick up Kyoko, cradling her in her arms as she would pat her head where she was just struck by Yui.

"_There, there, it's okay. I'm here, and I always will be..._"

"Ne, Ayano? Are you okay?" Kyoko asked, wondering why her friend was sitting there, stroking thin air.

"Huh?" Ayano said as she awoke from her fantasy. "YES! I'M PERFECTLY FINE! JUST DANDY DAN!"

A small "PFFF-" could be heard from Yui as her weakness for Ayano's puns showed. "_Just dandy Dan..." _She muttered silently to herself

"Okay, Ayano, now that you're back to reality, your turn!" Kyoko said as she looked Ayano dead in the eyes with those beautiful big blue eyes that melted Ayano's heart to the core.

"I guess I have no choice, Toshino Kyoko!" Ayano said with her face a whole new shade of red.

'TRUTH: WHAT'S YOUR SEXUALITY?'

"WHAT?!" Ayano screamed so loud that birds outside flew away.

"Well Ayano-chan, what is it?" Chitose said grinning, her hand over her nose to prevent the profuse nose bleed that was sure to come.

"Yeah, c'mon tell us!" Kyoko said.

"Okay fine, I'm gay. There, happy?" Ayano said, though she seemed to be speaking directly to Kyoko.

"Aww, that's adorable!" Kyoko squealed.

"What about the rest of you?" Ayano asked as she sat back down.

"I'm a lesbian too." Chitose chimed in.

"_We can tell..._" Yui muttered to herself as the images of Chitose's wild fantasies and nosebleeds that came hand-in-hand with them began to course through her mind.

"Same" Sakurako and Himawari replied in unison. They glared each other down before blushing at how close their faces were and turning away from each other.

"I'm gay too." Yui replied calmly.

"Same~here~" Kyoko sang happily as she winked at Ayano teasingly who felt her heart almost stop for a minute.

"I think the answer is obvious..." Chinatsu said almost seductively as she gazed at Yui, who returned an oblivious look and a small, awkward giggle.

"What is it about girls that makes them so attractive?" Chitose wondered out loud.

The crew exchanged looks of bewilderment until Kyoko finally decided to be the one to speak up.

"_Oh this should be good..."_ Yui muttered to herself as Kyoko rose and began to speak.

"I think it's because they're so pure." Kyoko said, being unusually deep which warranted the full attention of everyone. "They aren't jerks who decide to abuse your heart and body until they've had enough and move on to their next victim. Plus they're so beautiful and elegant, they're easy to talk to about problems, and they smell so sweet, just like pudding..."

_"Pudding? Could she mean..." _Ayano though silently to herself before she realized that on that last sentence Kyoko was staring directly at her, no mistaking it. Instantly she could feel her knees weaken, and she felt she would fall directly on her face in the position she was sitting in. To give herself support, she changed positions and leaned on her arms, but even those began to feel weak at the thought that the feeling of love that Ayano had kept so secret may be being reciprocated right in front of her. This was too good to be true!

"Huh? Why pudding?" Sakurako asked.

"Oh, no reason in particular..." Kyoko said as she let out a little giggle and returned to her sitting position, eyes still fixated on Ayano.

"Alright next is Chitose-, Chitose?" Kyoko said as she realized the white-haired fantasizer was nowhere to be seen. "Chitose!" Kyoko called.

"I'm in the bathroom!" Chitose called back from behind the door a few feet away from the group circle.

"Are you okay?" Yui called to Chitose.

"Yes, I'm just fine..." Chitose trailed off as a small pool of blood began to emerge from beneath the bathroom door

"Hey wait, where's Akari-chan?" Himawari asked, as the group began to remember that Akari still existed.

"Probably hiding in your boobs..." Sakurako replied which prompted a blunt smack on the head from Himawari.

"Last I remember, we told her to headstand until the game is over." Chinatsu replied.

"AAAHH!" Sakurako squealed as she looked behind her at the wall.

"What is it now?" Himawari asked as she turned around and saw what was wrong. Akari was face down on the floor.

"Is she..." Ayano began, scared that Akari might be dead. Yui walked over to Akari's body and turned her over and was greeted by a meek,

"Are you my mom?..." Yui's expression immediately became stern as she dropped Akari's head back down on the ground stating,

"All the blood just rushed to her head, she'll be fine in a few minutes."

"Okay! On with the game!" Kyoko exclaimed as she passed the box on...

[END FLASHBACK]

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

_'Yeah, the moment we shared that night, she meant it right?'_

Ayano wondered this to herself as she realized she was nearing the Amusement Club with each step. Simultaneously, it felt like she could feel her heartbeat increase with each step.

_'Maybe I do have to be more honest about things with her...Yeah, if I want to make this work I have to confess, I have to make things right for both her and me!'_

Ayano suddenly felt reassured of everything. She felt that she could do anything, and she felt ready to say those three words she's wanted to say to Kyoko since the day she met her, those three words she's said to her millions of times in her thoughts and fantasies, the three words that would complete Ayano's life if said back,

"I love you..." Ayano muttered to herself, acting as if Kyoko was standing right in front of her. "Yes, I love you, to the ends of the earth and back, I'll scream it in front of a crowd, I'll scream it in front of the entire country if I have to! I LOVE YOU TOSHINO KYOKO!" At this point Ayano had no shame in screaming it, because it was just her, but her twirling as she screamed it brought her right to the door of the Amusement Club, where she knew she had to face her, and she knew she had to do it now or never. As she carefully slid open the doors to the familiar Clubhouse, she readied herself for what was to come...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

"Hey, Ikeda-senpai, are you okay? Your nose is bleeding pretty bad..." Himawari asked Chitose.

"Oh, pardon me," Chitose said as she rolled up two tissues and stuck them in her nostrils, "I just have the feeling something amazing is about to happen..."

"The tissues are soaking through, should I get the nurse?" Sakurako asked, extremely panicked.

"No, just never let it end..." And with that Chitose collapsed into her own blood pool. Himawari scrambled to get her glasses back on, Sakurako darted to the nurse's office, and Chitose laid there, and relished what she knew was about to happen

_Thanks for reading! Chapter 2 will be coming soon! I hope you enjoyed it and give any criticism you have in the reviews!_


	2. Smiles and Plans

_A/N: Well I've had a mere bit of writer's block when it came to this, but after a quick review of myself, I've shaped up and I'm ready to go! So, enjoy the second chapter! :)_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ayano silently slid the doors to the Amusement Club open, attempting not to disturb anyone in there, as she didn't know how she wanted to go about this.

'_Just go in there, and confess your love. Easy as pie. Pomegranate Pie!' _Ayano thought to herself. In the next room over she heard a small sputter from the only person she knew that would do that at a pun like that...

"Yui, are you ok?" Akari asked, her voice perfectly clear as the doors in the club were practically paper thin.

"Yeah," Yui replied as she wiped her mouth of spit. "Someone just made a REALLY bad pun somewhere..."

'_"Bad pun"?! I put a lot of thought into my puns! Oh well whatever...' _Ayano thought to herself as she leaned against the tackily wallpapered wall, contemplating everything that could possibly go wrong...

**Ayano's Fantasy:**

"_LOVE?! BAHAHAHAHA, good one Ayano-chan!_" Toshino scoffed. "_I could never love someone like you!_" Ayano falls back, tears well up in her eyes as she walks off defeated...

**Back to real life:**

'_No. No I mustn't think about that! I have to be brave about this!_' Ayano thought as she assumed a new resolution, standing tall and sure of herself in the dark kitchen room just outside of the room where her true love awaited her. _'_

_I'll just go in, ask for their signatures-wait...' _Ayano looked down at the sheet of paper she dragged along, her excuse to be here, and realized that it didn't require signatures in the first place!

Ayano almost screamed, she forgot that she made up the whole 'signature' thing in the first place just so she could come down here! _'What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do?!' _She thought to herself, not sure of which was racing faster; her heart, or her mind. _'Wait...' _she remembered that, although there may not be a section for signatures, there are some questions that need answering on the sheet, such as:

'FUTURE PLANS FOR CLUB'

'CLUB MEMBERS AND THIER ROLES'

'NEW EQUIPMENT REQUIRED? IF SO, WRITE BELOW'

and '

DO YOU LOVE ME, TOSHINO KYOKO? Y/N?'

_'I'll just go in, give them the sheet and-DO YOU LOVE ME?! WHAT?!' _This time Ayano did scream to herself a little bit, but not as such that those on the other side of the walls could hear her. _'WHO WROTE THIS, WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND-...' _Ayano looked again, and realized that it wasn't typed in, as is custom for school official forms, but handwritten in to look almost like official typeset. _'There's only one person who could do this...Chitose...' _Ayano sighed a little bit to herself before she stepped outside again to erase the text. And then she realized,

"AAAH! I DON'T HAVE A PENCIL!" Ayano exclaimed to herself, almost immediately cupping her hands over her mouth, hoping no one heard that. _'Ok, calm down Ayano, you can just borrow one from them, and while they're distracted answering a question, I'll erase it before they notice!' _Ayano contemplated this plan with a devilish smile, and then turned around to face the club, and her love...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Student Council Office (minus Chitose, who sends her regrets)**

Himawari and Sakurako sat at the table diligently filling out papers, as per instruction. Well, Himawari was, Sakurako was walking around the room, balancing a broom she found in the supply closet on her palm like a circus act. After it fell and sent papers everywhere, Himawari exclaimed,

"DO YOU HAVE TO ACT SO DAMN CHILDISH!?"

"Oh, lighten up, you didn't loose much!" Sakurako said with her usually clueless smile.

"Well, you're picking them up!" Himawari said as she crossed her arms (or at least attempted to given the size of her chest)

"Aww...how come you get out of work, just because you have big boobs!?" Sakurako exclaimed.

"Th-that has nothing to do with this! Just pick up papers!" Himawari replied, her face red as her school uniform skirt.

Sakurako reluctantly agreed and spent a solid five minutes picking up requisite forms, permission slips, and all sorts of papers before getting distracted.

"Ne, Himawari?" Sakurako said as she turned to her friend/crush.

"What is it?" Himawari said as she glanced down at Sakurako, who was to her right, almost under the table.

"Why do you think Sugiura-san left in such a hurry?" Sakurako asked, genuinely curious.

"Hmm..." Himawari scratched her head for a moment, and replied, "I have no idea!"with a cute smile that froze Sakurako for a minute.

Sakurako just sat there gazing ever onwards at her secret crush's face, not realizing that she hadn't taken a moment to really realize how beautiful Himawari is. She even has cute little dimples that flare each time she smiles. And her smile could melt a thousand icebergs, illuminate a million rooms, and save you 15% or more on car insurance!

"What is it?" Himawari asked as she gazed curiously at her secret crush.

"I never realized...you have a really cute smile..." Sakurako said, obviously spaced out.

"WHA-?! YOU'RE...COMPLIMENTING ME!?" Himawari replied, startled by the pleasant change of pace. Sakurako never really said much in the way of compliments to Himawari, and previously, the only part of Himawari Sakurako ever spoke of was her boobs. So Himawari definitely wasn't complaining. In fact, she was feeling something; this weird overwhelming feeling that maybe the feeling of love she had harbored for so many years was being reciprocated in front of her. But, no jumping to conclusions, she decided.

_'Just reply with a simple smile, and a "thank you", and it'll all be fine' _Himawari thought to herself.

"Th-th-thanks, Sakurako-_chan._" Himawari said shakily.

Sakurako gasped, and gazed once again at the beautiful figure that sat before her. They locked eyes for that brief moment, and realized something. Maybe it's time the hate stopped, maybe it's time for something new...

"You're welcome...Himawari-chan." Sakurako replied, still intently gazing at Himawari's beautiful deep eyes. She felt that that deep shade of amber could wrap her in its luxurious grasp. Sakurako wasn't paying attention to how she was moving, and didn't realize that she was subconsciously leaning in closer and closer to Himawari, until their faces were so close, their noses were touching.

_'What should I do?...' _Himawari thought to herself. _'This should feel wrong, but...somehow, it feels so right...' 'Should I go for it? Should I try and kiss her?' _

Sakurako thought to herself at the same time, _'I don't know if she'll like it or not...or if she even likes me...maybe I should just make a boob joke and break the mood so we can get back to what we were doi-'_

Sakurako's thoughts were interrupted by a pair of cherry sweet lips, gracing hers. After that, Sakurako knew what to do. She leaned forward into the kiss, feeling its intensity, well, intensify. The kiss seemed to last forever, and when they pulled away from each other, it seemed like it was only a few seconds.

"Um..." Sakurako said, her foot sliding back and forth on the ground, and her heart still racing from the kiss.

"I'm sorry, did you not like it?" Himawari replied, now an entirely new shade of tomato red.

"No, it's not that, it's just...how long?"

"What?" "How long have you..."

"Loved you?"

"Yeah..."

"Depends, how long have you loved me back?" At this statement, Sakurako's face discovered the same shade of red Himawari's had a few seconds ago. She thought long and hard, and then said,

"Probably from the moment we entered our first year, and I got a good look at you. You know other than your chest. OW!" Himawari slapped Sakurako on the back of the head, but then pulled her in and caressed the spot where she hit, and kissed it.

"Yeah, that's about the same time I realized it too..." Himawari said, her chin resting on Sakurako's head.

"Then, what now?" Sakurako asked, her lips soon met by the delicate finger of her love.

"What else?" Himawari replied as she leaned in for another kiss, and was met with one. Only this one was different; this one wasn't slightly awkward like the one a minute ago just was. This was one full of passion, care, and a sense of shared love. Himawari felt something on her top lip, it was wet and warm, Sakurako's tongue, begging for entrance, which was gladly given. The two took a moment to breathe, and finally said, in unison,

"_I love you..."_

and the clash of tongues resumed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Back at the Amusement Club**

Ayano burst through the door, confident in her plan, and yelled her hallmark greeting of,

"TOSHINO KYOKO!" Instantly the entire Amusement Club's gazes were captured, but it wasn't too surprising, Ayano had been stopping in frequently recently. And it was pretty obvious to everyone why. Well, almost everyone...

"Hey, Ayano!" Akari said cheerfully as she turned from the magazine she was reading.

"Hi, Ayano!" Chinatsu said, though her gaze was fixated on Yui.

"'Sup, Ayano?" Yui said casually as she flipped a page in the manga she was reading.

"Zzzzz..." Toshino snored.

"Toshino...Kyoko?" Ayano said curiously as she looked over the right corner of the table to she her secret love, in a deep slumber. "WHY IS SHE ASLEEP?!" Ayano exclaimed.

"She probably stayed up late last night again, doing who knows what..." Yui replied blandly, as she was used to these kinds of situations by now. "I'll wake her up for you, don't worry!"

_'NO! DON'T WAKE HER UP!'_ Ayano thought to herself,_ 'She's so adorable when she sleeps...I wish I could just crawl behind her and delicately wrap my arms around her, kissing her on the neck and whispering, 'Good night, my love' into her adorable little ear...' _

"Aww...but she's kind of cute when she's sleeping..." Ayano thought out loud, and quite audibly too.

Everyone just sat and stared at her for a moment, before Ayano's gaze wandered away from her Sleeping Beauty and onto the rest of the Club. "I MEAN, NOTHING JUST WAKE HER UP!" Yui half-laughed awkwardly at the occurrence, then proceeded to pinch Kyoko's cheek and twist it sharply.

"EEEEEEEEEE!" Kyoko exclaimed, as she got her rude awakening.

"What'd you do that for, huh?" Kyoko said sourly to Yui, but she was met with only a finger that pointed in Ayano's direction. "Oh, Ayano-chan, what's up?" The blonde cheerily said, her heart melting smile beaming right at Ayano.

"Uh..." Ayano was at a loss for words at the sight of her true love, but quickly regained composure and sat down next to Kyoko.

"I'm here on business, and only that!" She said as she slammed the paper on the desk for all to read.

"Student Council Club Form..." Akari read.

"Every year I have to fill out these forms about each one of the school's clubs, and that includes you guys." Ayano replied.

"Theoretically," Yui began, "couldn't you just have done this from your office? Why would you leave a nice, air conditioned room to come out to talk to us?"

"Uh...well..." Ayano scrambled to come up with something good, "there are certain questions on here that I need your personal opinions on!" Ayano said studiously.

"And to talk to me!" Kyoko chimed it.

"HUH?!" Ayano exclaimed, her face, redder than ever before.

"Well whatever, let's just get this over with then..." Yui said, yawning.

"Oh, and I forgot my pencil, do you guys have one?" Ayano asked, trying to act as innocent as possible.

"Yeah, I've got one right here!" Kyoko said as she pulled a No. 2 pencil from behind her ear and tucked tightly into Ayano's hand. For an instant, when flesh met flesh, Ayano thought she felt a crack of thunder hit. Kyoko's hand was so warm, she never took the time to notice it. In fact, most of the only times they had physical contact, Ayano was either too scared, too tired, or too annoyed to notice. Except for the time at the beach, when Kyoko helped her light the fireworks. But, she had to focus, or else her plan to confess would fall apart.

"All right, let's get this over with!" Ayano exclaimed, her voice still shaky from the hand touch.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I've filled out the basic stuff, but there are just a few things I need you for, so, Number one: Future Plans for the Club?" Ayano asked.

"Um..." was the unanimous reply.

"I guess the club will continue even after Yui and I graduate," Kyoko replied. "Akari and Chinatsu-chan will take over!"

'_But if Akari takes over...' _Yui thought to herself, _'will this Club loose its presence too?' _A brief image of the clubhouse disappearing as Akari's familiar voice sang,

"Akarin~".

Yui gasped and gazed over to Akari, reassuring herself of her presence.

"Well, I guess that works!" Ayano replied as she scribbled down Kyoko's answer adding her own flair to it.

**'Allow current members to succeed the admins and recruit new members as they deem necessary.'**

"Wow, you have a way of making everything sound official..." Chinatsu said as she marveled at how Ayano took Kyoko's loose answer and fancied it up with the proper terminology.

"Well, when you're on student council, it becomes a natural reflex." Ayano replied. "We have to make everything sound fancy, or else it gets bland to the reader."

"It makes sense," Yui replied, "if your superiors don't find it interesting, they won't review it professionally."

"Exactly!" Ayano replied.

"Okay! Number two:" Ayano said, "'Current member's roles?'"

"Huh, do we even have roles?" Akari asked.

"We never really decided on anything like that when we started this club," Kyoko replied, "so I guess it's kind of an anarchy!"

"WHA-!?" Ayano exclaimed as an image of a war tattered Amusement Club Clubhouse flashed through her head, with Kyoko at the helm as the machine gunner.

"We can come up with roles right now!" Kyoko exclaimed, interrupting Ayano's fantasy, pleasantly enough. "I'm the, as previously stated, Super-Sexy-Commando-Captian KYOKO!" _'_

_I can agree with the first part...'_ Ayano longingly muttered to herself.

"YUI!" Kyoko exclaimed as she pointed at Yui, "You can be, Super-Cold-Heartless-Commander YUI!"

"WHY IS MY NAME THE ONLY BAD ONE!" Yui exclaimed. Ayano just sat back and scribbled down,

**'No real roles at the moment, have yet to be decided by Club members...'**

"Okay, finally, Number Three:" Ayano said, somewhat exhausted, partially because of the discussions, and partially because sitting next to Kyoko was taking all her willpower not to scream and embrace/kiss her, "'Do you need any new equipment? If so, write below!'"

"It would be nice to have some odds and ins to have lying around as something to do." Chinatsu stated.

"Maybe some arts or crafts stuff!" Akari exclaimed.

"Maybe a computer or something like that..." Yui chimed in, her gamer side showing.

"A fridge filled with Rum Raisin ice cream and pudding~!" Kyoko sang.

"Uh..." Ayano remarked at the mixed demands, and just scribbled down what she heard,

**'Whatever you can find...'**

Ayano stood up. "Well, thanks for helping me with this!" And she smiled at everyone, specifically Kyoko.

_'Now let's just hope this works...'_ Ayano thought to herself as she began to walk out.

"Ne, Ayano-chan~" Kyoko moaned.

"Y-y-yes?" Ayano replied, her signature ponytail almost standing straight up on end.

"All that talk about rum raisin and pudding made me hungry, do you have any pudding in your fridge in the Student Council Office?" Kyoko asked, trying to flash her best puppy dog eyes look.

_'Oh, you don't need cheap, half-assed puppy dog eyes, my love. Your eyes are beautiful just the way they are...'_ Ayano thought to herself.

"Well, maybe I do..." Ayano said as she rubbed the tips of her two index fingers together.

"That's a 'yes'!" Kyoko exclaimed excitedly. "Let's go!" Kyoko quickly grabbed hold of Ayano's hand, making sure that her grip would not falter, and waved 'goodbye to everyone in the Club before bursting out the door with Ayano in tow.

'_I can't believe mentioning that question worked!'_ Ayano thought to herself,_ 'Now I'll use the pudding in my office as a romantic tool...prepare yourself Toshino Kyoko, for the WOOING OF YOUR LIFE!'_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ayano and Kyoko arrived at the doors of the Student Council Office what seemed like all too soon. Ayano had to try her hardest to keep herself from drooling over the fact that they held hands for that long, uninterrupted! She couldn't spoil this; this had to work out!

"C'mon Ayano, I want that pudding!" Kyoko said as she ran towards the office.

"I never said I was going to share it with you!" Ayano retorted, her tsundere tendencies showing more than ever in this situation.

"But you know you will~!" Kyoko said, and flashed a wink and a peace sign at Ayano. It was a little more than Ayano could handle and she found herself sighing and drooling a little bit. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Huh?" Ayano asked, returning to reality from her fantasy that cannot be displayed at this point in time due to the fact that she'd kill me if I did...

"You drooled a little bit Ayano-chan!" Kyoko remarked cutely, which lead to more drool, and excessive blushing on Ayano's part.

"N-no I didn't!" Ayano sharply replied, oblivious to the drool in the bottom left hand corner of her mouth.

_'Sheesh,' _Ayano thought to herself, _'and I thought Chizuru and Chitose were bad, but I'm worse!'_

Her thought train was interrupted by a soft sensation on the corner of her mouth, a handkerchief, Kyoko's. It softly graced Ayano's mouth, wiping off the drool, and anything else that might be there. All the time, Kyoko was mere centimeters away from Ayano's face. Ayano thought she felt Kyoko's nose touch hers at one point, and so did Kyoko, but both said nothing, they just blushed and carried on to the Student Council Office.

"C'mon Ayano~" Kyoko moaned as Ayano slowly opened the Student Council Office door.

"I'm hurrying but the door was stuck!" Ayano replied.

The two entered in on Sakurako and Himawari hard at work. It was evident they'd been working hard, as their uniforms were disheveled and unbuttoned in certain places, mainly around the chest and their skirts were out of place. Also, they were extremely sweaty. But even more bizarre than all this combined, was the fact that they were actually smiling at each other. They weren't making remarks about each other, or snapping at each other in the slightest. They both seemed, genuinely happy. Almost like they were in love.

"Oh, Sugiura-san, you're back?" Sakurako asked as Himawari and hers glances turned towards Ayano and Kyoko in the doorway.

"Yeah, I brought Kyoko along to help me with some work," Ayano replied, almost giggling at her true intentions, "so you two are free to go."

"Sounds fine by us!" Himawari replied, taking Sakurako by the hand, their fingers intertwining, as they walked off, cheerily talking about something or other, who knows. Upon their exit, Kyoko entered, her face pure blushing red.

Ayano noticed and screamed, "IS SOMETHING WRONG!?"

"Y-y-you...called me by my first name..." Kyoko replied, her smile no longer held back.

"Did I?" Ayano replied, fully aware of what she did.

"You did and you know it~" Kyoko sang loud and proud, as she squealed over it.

"Well it is your name isn't it?" Ayano curtly retorted. "And it's such a pretty name..."

"Huh?" Kyoko replied

"Nothing!" Ayano said quickly, her face unable to hide her tongue slip.

"Oh yeah," Kyoko remembered, and began to strut over to the mini-fridge next to the President's desk. Out of it, she produced a cup of pudding, Ayano's favorite, fruit pudding that she splurged on only once a month, as a treat to herself, a treat that was normally interrupted by Kyoko's desire for it.

One time Ayano traded the pudding for Rum Raisin ice cream from Kyoko, that she cherished for days, until Sakurako ate it, not knowing the story behind it. Ever since then, Ayano tried to work up the nerve to ask again to trade with Kyoko, but never could; she'd either eat the pudding before knowing it was gone, or make it halfway to the Amusement Club and give up.

"finally, Ayano's pudding!"

"Hey wait a minute-" Ayano began, but was interrupted by two things, one, a warm embrace from a beautiful blonde, and a cold sensation in one hand. Once Kyoko broke the hug, Ayano looked down and saw a pint cup of Rum Raisin ice cream in the palm of her right hand.

"Wha-why?" Ayano asked.

"Oh," Kyoko began, "well, I was just thinking, we did it once before, when you bought that pudding for me," Kyoko began to blush profusely, "and I can always buy more Rum Raisin...but your pudding, is extremely special to me. It reminds me so much of you..."

"Kyoko..." Ayano said, lost in her own romance.

"And that last time you gave me the pudding, I ate part of it, then cherished it for a few days until my sister tried to eat it," Kyoko continued, "so I had no choice but to finish it...I felt like I lost something that day...a part of you..." Ayano was astonished, here was Toshino Kyoko, **Toshino Kyoko**, the girl who can barely take her schoolwork seriously, making a serious confession about something. That's unheard of in this universe! But that didn't stop Ayano from cherishing it deeply before saying,

"Come on, let's eat these together...If you want to..." Ayano meekly said.

"I'd love to." Kyoko replied happily.

The two sat down and ate their frozen treats for a few minutes until Ayano was interrupted by a spoon that appeared in front of her, not her own, but Kyoko's. It had a lump of pudding on it, with just the right amount of fruit too.

"C'mon, say 'Ah~'" Kyoko said with a smug grin.

_'Yes! An indirect kiss! I missed my chance at the play a month or two ago, but there's no missing it now!'_ Ayano thought.

"Well, I guess I have no choice..." Ayano replied as she opened her mouth with an indefinite 'Ah~'. The cold pudding almost instantly melted in her mouth because of the intense heat brought on by this moment, but that didn't diminish the taste at all. Ayano thought it tasted more glorious when she thought she could taste Kyoko on the spoon...

"Okay, now your turn!" Kyoko said.

"Huh?" Ayano replied.

"Feed me some Rum Raisin, silly!" Kyoko replied

"Huh?" Ayano blandly replied again before registering the situation. "Well, ok." She scooped up some Rum Raisin out of the cup, just enough for a mouthful, and said, " Now say 'Ah~'"

"Ah~" Kyoko replied, and was rewarded with sweet tasting Rum Raisin ice cream. She lingered on the spoon for a minute, and when she released, she stated, "You taste really sweet Ayano!"

Ayano nearly choked on ice cream, as she sputtered, "What?!"

"I could taste you on your spoon..." Kyoko replied. "You taste sweet, just like the pudding you love so much!"

"Well there are some things I like more than pudding..." Ayano demurely replied.

"Like what?" Kyoko retorted.

"Well...she's more of a person really..." Ayano replied, again, extremely meek.

"Aww~, Ayano~has~a~crush~!" Kyoko sang like a bird.

"Well, how about you!?" Ayano sharply said back, her face now so red that she was afraid if she got any close to her ice cream it would liquify instantly.

"Well..." Kyoko started shy, "she's this really amazing girl, her personality is stellar, she can be a little crass at times, but her beauty makes up for it. And she's especially nice to me!"

Ayano was unsure of where this was going, since it was beginning to sound a lot like Yui, but decided to flow with it, "Go on..."

"She cares deeply about me," Kyoko raved, "and she checks in on me almost every day! Even though she lives so far out of the way from me, I get to see her when she leaves for school and sometimes, when my club activities run late, I get to walk home behind her. She's so elegant, but so demure at the same time. I always get kind of embarrassed when I'm around her, because I'm scared of whether or not I should confess, and whether or not she'd waste her time on someone like me. But today I learned that she definitely feels the same way, and she showed it with one thing..."

"What could that be?" Ayano trailed off.

"Pudding." Kyoko replied.

The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Ayano's plan was long gone by now, as she just sat there, looking on at the standing Kyoko, who looked quite dashing in her uniform.

"Ayano..." Kyoko began, "I love you. I always have, and always will."

"Kyoko..." Ayano replied, "I-I..."

_'COME ON, JUST SAY IT!' _Ayano screamed to herself.

"Kyoko! I love you too!" Ayano rose and ran over to Kyoko and held her by the shoulders, "I have since the moment I laid eyes on you, and I have never stopped since then-" There was going to be more to that sentence, but it was cut short by the sweet embrace of cloud-soft lips. They held that kiss for minutes, for when a kiss is true love, time is an illusion. Kyoko's tongue begged entrance, and Ayano had no hesitation, and their tongues played rough, but it didn't matter either, what mattered was the love felt in this moment.

They rolled and groped each other on the floor, their kiss not yet broken, until they stopped to breathe, Ayano's shirt almost off, Kyoko's already off, revealing her bright blue bra underneath.

"Ayano..." Kyoko said through heavy breaths, "Are we, together now?..."

"When were we not?" Ayano replied.

"Hey," Kyoko began, her hands running through Ayano's luxurious purple ponytail, "wanna go out this Saturday? We can go uptown and shop, and see a movie or get something to eat. Do you wanna?"

"Of course..." Ayano replied gingerly. "Where should I meet you?"

"I'll pick you up at around 11:00 A.M., and we'll have the whole day to ourselves for our first date." Kyoko replied.

"Fantastic...I wouldn't want it any other way." Ayano smiled as her hands slid further down Kyoko's back.

"I do have one question though." Kyoko said.

"What?" Ayano replied.

"How do you get your ponytail so perfect each day? Like how much hairspray do you use?" Kyoko asked.

"Just shut up and kiss me!" Ayano exclaimed.

"Your wish is my command..." Kyoko replied.

And the clash of tongues resumed again...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Well damn! That was long, but I hope you enjoyed! You guys made me feel so great about my first chapter, so I let myself run free on this one! Review, and stay tuned for the next chapter! THE DATE!


	3. The Date

_A/N: _Hi! This is Chitose doing the Author's Note as the Author is momentarily out, but it's fine! So, Ayano and Toshino-san have finally realized their feelings for each other, it's almost too good to be true! And this chapter being their date, who knows what will happen! Oh, it seems the author left me something on his desk, it's a note?

_Dear Chitose, _

_Whatever you do, please, PLEASE don't take off your glasses at ANY point during the A/N OR THE STORY_

_Thanks,_

_The Author_

Awww! He's so considerate! But maybe just one time won't hurt…*removes glasses* _Ahhhhhhh….._

_Hey Chitose, I'm back what did I miss-DAMNIT, WHAT DID I TELL YOU! SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE! OR GET SOME GLASSES!_

_Oh, you're all still here…um….ON WITH THE STORY!_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ayano glared at herself in the mirror in her bathroom with a veritable hurricane of emotions.

On one hand she was over-the-top elated that she was finally going out with the love of her life, Kyoko. The girl she had fallen for the instant she saw her the first day of middle school. But on the other hand, she was unsure; a little bit of herself, as she was scared her tsun tsun tendencies might take over and she might drive Kyoko away forever, but also of what Kyoko _REALLY_ had planned for today…

_"I'll pick you up at 11:00 A.M., and we'll have the whole day to ourselves on our first date." _Those words echoed in Ayano's head the entire time Ayano was getting ready.

Knowing Kyoko, that could mean anything. That could mean a romantic day, full of surprises, wonder, and heartfelt kisses. Or it could mean a day of epic action sequences, CGI, and mortal combat…and knowing Kyoko, it was probably option Number 2.

"11:00 A.M…" Ayano whispered to herself as she glared at the clock, which read 10:45 A.M. "These will be the longest 15 minutes of my life…" she groaned as she continued to gussy herself up. Although everything she was doing was based off of pure assumption and memory. She tried remembering all the days and times that her and Kyoko were closest and what she was wearing on those days. Not surprisingly, she had everything down to the last detail, and began to look at the outfits from those days. She began to review the perfumes from those days as well.

"Which one is it that she liked the most, again?" Ayano wondered out loud. And then she remembered,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Comuket, Ayano's First Time Going, 1.5 Years ago)**

Ayano sat quietly next to Kyoko at the booth as Kyoko greeted the customers, signed their doujinshi books, and sadly waved them goodbye as they left. She had never seen Kyoko so alive, so happy, so…beautiful.

"Ne, Ayano!" Kyoko said as she turned to Ayano with a cute smile

"Ah-what is it, Toshino Kyoko?" Ayano replied, her voice shaky at the sight of that smile.

"I've been meaning to ask you this all day," Kyoko began, leaning in closer to Ayano, "what is that perfume you're wearing? I LOVE it!"

"Huh?" Ayano blankly asked.

"Well, I've been near you all day, I think I would've noticed by now!" Kyoko said. "I first caught a whiff of it on the bus ride up here, when I was asleep next to you!"

"Oh!" Ayano exclaimed, remembering the joy she felt as she recalled the adorable sight of a sleeping Kyoko on her lap. Though she didn't mention that part though. That was her secret.

"And now, sitting next you, I've been smelling it for the past hour or so! And it's driving me insane!" Kyoko exclaimed.

"Uh, it's, uh…" Ayano stuttered, barely remembering the name of the perfume, but knowing she had to remember, he entire future hinged on it at this point. And then it came to her, "It's called Aoi Hana, 'Sweet Blue Flowers', if you must know!" She exclaimed.

"Haha, you should wear it more often!" Kyoko replied with that signature giggle and a wink that seemed to have mixed meanings that Ayano couldn't decipher at the time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Present Day)**

Ayano shuffled around in her bathroom cabinet for that perfume bottle, until she finally found it, it was shoved between two other almost identical bottles, that Ayano didn't spot upon first glance. She quickly grabbed the bottle and sprayed herself in what she thought were the most critically romantic areas (chest, neck, arms, etc.), and laid back on her bed. The outfit she had picked out was what she thought was most fitting: a light blue blouse with a white skirt and a purple handbag to match her purple ponytail.

When only five minutes remained, she ran a final check of herself to make sure everything was where it should be; Purse with money, check. Hair positioned properly, Ayano stroked her ponytail in its full length which proved rather hard near the end, adjusted her bangs, and gave it a: check. Shoes, Ayano gazed at her casual shoes and hoped that they wouldn't seem _too_ casual in comparison to Kyoko, but nonetheless gave them a: check. And lipstick, Ayano pursed her lips and did a few kissing motions to herself in the mirror before giving it a final: check.

Then suddenly, the doorbell rang. Ayano wondered who it could be, as Kyoko wasn't due for another 10 minutes, and figured that Kyoko wasn't the type to be early, but she ran downstairs to get the door (after one or two final lip-ups). Ayano swung open the door and was greeted by a warm special warm embrace only Ayano knew.

"Kyoko…" Ayano whispered to herself as she looked to her right at the beautiful blonde, still embracing her, who now squeezed even tighter. "You're early!" Ayano exclaimed.

"Well of course!" Kyoko replied with a 'thumbs up' pose and one eye winking, "I wouldn't dare be anything but early for this!"

_'Yui was right, she really can be considerate at times…' _Ayano thought to herself.

"Well come on!" Kyoko exclaimed, grabbing Ayano's hand, "The next train downtown leaves soon, if we want to make it, we have to hustle!" And they took off dashing, Ayano fueled by the sparks that were surely flying from their hands touching, and Kyoko fueled by half a pint of rum raisin, some waffles, and a glass of orange juice.

But both of them by love.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The two arrived at the train station by the skin of their teeth, barely making it onto the train in time, which was surprisingly desolate. There was literally no one else in the train car that Kyoko and Ayano were in, except for them.

While they were talking, Ayano took a moment to notice Kyoko's outfit, a simple pink button-up short-sleeve shirt, with short shorts and Kyoko's usual shoes. Ayano felt a little overdressed compared to her girlfriend, (Ayano felt giddy every time she said that, and thought of the prospects of saying it in public. 'Meet my _girlfriend_, Kyoko. Kyoko! Come here my darling!') but nonetheless said nothing about it.

While they were in the middle of a conversation, Kyoko randomly leaned in and started smelling Ayano,

_'Does she remember the perfume?'_ Ayano thought to herself, elated.

"Ayano," Kyoko began, "what is that perfume you're wearing, it smells AMAZING!" Ayano gave a blank look to the smiling Kyoko.

_'Well, this is Kyoko we're talking about here…'_ Ayano remembered, then sighed and repeated the name of the perfume to Kyoko.

"I don't very often use perfume," Kyoko said, much to Ayano's confusion, "I just have a naturally good smell!"

"How is that possible?" Ayano asked.

"I have no idea!" Kyoko replied with her tongue stuck out to one side of her mouth.

"Why do I even bother…" Ayano muttered.

"Oh yeah! That reminds me!" Kyoko exclaimed as she reached into her handbag. She hastily rummaged through the contents: money, lipstick, makeup compact, cell phone, a 1933 Babe Ruth baseball card in mint condition (Street value: 300,000 Yen (3,000 USD)), and small brochure. "Found it!" She said as she pulled out the brochure labeled 'Comuket'. Ayano instantly remembered the time and memories she had of Comuket with Kyoko, and the year she wasn't invited because Kyoko thought it would be too much of an inconvenience to Ayano to be dragged along again after the previous year's happenings. But that then, this is now.

"Comuket?" Ayano inquired.

"Yeah," Kyoko replied, "I go there every year, remember?"

"How could I forget?…" Ayano muttered.

"Anyways, now that we're dating," Kyoko began, and with that Ayano was lost from there, her true love had acknowledged the fact that they were girlfriend and girlfriend! Ayano was complete…, "I would feel absolutely terrible if you didn't come with me! So will you?"

"Anything for you my love…" Ayano said distantly.

"Oh Ayano, you can't hide your dere side from me." Kyoko said as she leaned in towards Ayano's lips, which played Follow the Leader and did the exact same.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Following the passionate train ride, Kyoko and Ayano found themselves walking downtown, talking, holding hands, and enjoying each other's pleasant company.

"So about Comuket," Ayano began, "Where should I meet you, and who's all going?"

"Oh, don't worry about it!" Kyoko replied, doing a little spin move almost, "It's just people we know! Yui, Chinatsu, Chitose, and Akari!"

"Oh, good." Ayano breathed a sigh of relief at knowing she wasn't going to be alone, trying to handle Kyoko in Tokyo…

"Oh, and I made some special arrangements for us when we get there!" Kyoko said slyly.

"What do you mean, Kyoko?" Ayano asked, but instead of an answer, she got a hug and a kiss. After she came back down to Earth, she asked, "And what was that for?"

"You use my first name so casually now," Kyoko replied, "I love it."

"Well naturally!" Ayano exclaimed, "It's what a good girlfriend should do!"

"Then you're the greatest girlfriend of all time!" Kyoko exclaimed. "Come one, let's go to the mall!"

"For what?" Ayano asked.

"Well we have the whole day to ourselves, and I wanna look around for something there!" Kyoko replied.

"You're hopeless…" Ayano sighed. But, nonetheless, she went on with Kyoko.

The two spent an hour or so at the mall, stopping into various clothes stores, trying on and buying some, but both trying to keep a leash on each other when in the changing rooms. Though once or twice they came unleashed. After a little while they sat down to inspect each other's respective hauls, and then Kyoko's phone rang. She answered it in a flash, and told Ayano,

"Do you mind if I take this in private?"

"No, go ahead." Ayano replied.

Kyoko stepped away to continue her call, while Ayano leaned in as close as she could without falling off of the bench she was sitting on to the distant Kyoko, who was on the other side of the court next to some hobby store, trying to get some tidbit of the conversation between Kyoko and the unknown caller. All Ayano could get is that whatever it was, Kyoko seemed excited about it; she had never seen Kyoko answer her phone that fast, except when it was Ayano calling or texting. Millions of things raced through Ayano's head, but chief among them was that she couldn't stand being distanced from Kyoko when she knew the day was supposed to be theirs exclusively.

After what seemed like forever, but was in reality no more than 3 minutes, Kyoko came back and told Ayano,

"Hey, I have to go take care of something quick, I'll meet you back here in about 20 minutes, okay?"

Ayano stared at Kyoko, puzzled, _'What is this girl up to?' _Ayano thought to herself, _'Is she cheating on me or something? No, when I look in those eyes I see a girl who is wholeheartedly devoted to me, and would never step that low, so that's out of the question. But what could it be then?' _

"I suppose that's fine…" Ayano replied as she got up from the bench. As she did, she was promptly embraced by Kyoko who whispered in her ear,

"I'll miss you…" and then left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ayano, now stuck with 20 minutes to kill, looked around the mall for something to occupy herself. It seemed so foreign to her, not having Kyoko by her side. Even though they hadn't been dating extremely long, Ayano always felt an emptiness in her heart, even when Kyoko and her weren't dating. It was like a vital piece of her was missing when Kyoko wasn't around; a lively, cheerful, ridiculous part of her but a part nonetheless.

"Well, I'll find something to do!" Ayano exclaimed to herself, "Yeah! What's 20 measly minutes compared to the rest of the day that I'll have with her!? I'll be fine! Worry not, Angkor Wat!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Exact same time, Yui's Apartment)**

(People present: Yui, Chinatsu, and Akari)

The familiar Amusement Club girls were sitting around the table in the middle of Yui's living room when all of a sudden Yui let out a loud

"PFFF…." and then muttered to herself, "'Worry not, Angkor Wat!'…"

"Yui?" Akari asked, perplexed by this sudden outburst.

"Senpai?" Chinatsu inquired at the exact same time, equally unsure of what to make of this.

"It's fine," Yui replied, "Someone just told a _REALLY _bad pun somewhere…"

"Oh," Akari said, "I wonder who?"

"Who else?…" muttered Yui as the girls resumed their casual conversation.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ayano wandered the mall, reluctantly so though. But then the thought occurred to her,

'_What if she's mad at me?_', Ayano felt like everything around her froze at that thought. Her dearly beloved, already mad at her, and they hadn't even been dating a full week? "No, I'm probably putting foolish notions in my head!" Ayano told herself out loud, but then thought back on it. She had been pretty curt, harsh, and sharp to Kyoko at certain points in the past. But Kyoko always knew it was her tsun tsun side, right? Even earlier this morning when they were on their way to the train and Ayano was a little cold, but eventually warmed up. And Kyoko wouldn't get all bent out of shape because maybe one or two remarks, could she?

'_Get a hold of yourself Ayano!_' She told herself, sitting down on a nearby bench and putting her face in her cupped hands as she leaned back and let out a long sigh.

She glanced over at a nearby clock and saw that she still had 10 minutes until Kyoko said she would be back at their rendezvous point, which was only about a minute from where Ayano was at the moment. But Ayano figured she should be there a few minutes early given Kyoko's track record today.

'_I have roughly 5 minutes to kill…4 if you don't count the one that it'll take me to get to the meeting spot…_' Ayano gazed around at the storefronts, a hobby shop, a clothing store, a store that appeared to sell body washes and all sorts of things to that accord, a jewelers…_a jewelers?_

Ayano took a step back, she had never considered a jewelers, could Kyoko have gone there?

'_Hold on a minute,_' Ayano thought to herself as she gazed on at the displays, '_this is Toshino Kyoko we're talking about here, she's considerate, but I don't think that even she would go to a jewelers to save her life.'_ That thought train was quickly derailed, and Ayano just kept on gazing.

_'Although,' _she thought, _'those are some gorgeous necklaces they have…' _there happened to be one lined with aquamarines, Kyoko's birthstone, that seemed to be within Ayano's price range.

'**Buy Now: And get a free custom engraving!**' a sign blared on the counter above the necklaces. This seemed almost too good to be true, but what about the timing? Quickly Ayano glanced at her wrist; 3 minutes.

Ayano picked up her bags, and rushed into the jewelers as fast as she could,

_'Even if you won't do it for me,' _Ayano thought as she pushed thorough coupon-clad housewives and aspiring high school romantic guys and girls alike, _'I'd do anything for you!'_ With one final push she emerged out of the sea of shoppers at the front desk, and asked about the necklace. Upon hearing the pricing Ayano promptly slammed the money on the counter declared,

"I'll take it!" with a distinct fire glimmering in her eyes.

"Thank you," the store clerk replied as she began to box the necklace. But before she could go any further, Ayano asked,

"Um.."

"Yes?" Inquired the store clerk.

"C-could I get it engraved?" Ayano asked, quivering.

"Well of course!" Replied an elated store clerk. She unboxed the necklace and went over to her engraving stand and asked, "Now, what is it you want on here?"

"Kyoko x Ayano, Forever…" Ayano proudly said.

"Kyoko?" The clerk replied, "But, that's a girl's name, isn't it?"

"Yes, what of it?" Ayano sternly replied back.

"Well, nothing, it's just…normally, the girls do this for someone they have feelings for, and well…another girl…"

"Oh?" Ayano sharply replied, "So there's something wrong with me being in love with another girl!?"

"N-n-no…" replied a stirred clerk, who asked no further questions and finished the engraving. When it was said and done, she handed the blue velvet box, wrapped in a plastic bag to Ayano, and sent her on her way. Ayano couldn't contain herself, but she knew she had to, only for a few minutes though, because that's all the time she had to get to the bench! Instantly she picked up her belongings and rushed off to the rendezvous.

The clerk watched Ayano dash off, then grinned a little bit and chuckled.

"What are you so happy about Niagara?" asked Erin, the boy who was working the other half of the counter at the jewelers.

"Oh, nothing," Niagara replied, "I just got a glimpse of true love, that's all…"

"I didn't realize you were looking at me while you were doing that engraving." Erin cockily said. This statement earned him a solid hit on the arm, but also reminded him of something.

"Hey, didn't I hear that ponytail girl there mention a 'Kyoko' or someone?"

"Yeah," Niagara replied in an aloof tone, "what about it?"

"Well," Erin said as he bagged some things for the customer he was tending to, "it might be nothing, but I got sent out to do some pick ups for orders and stuff from the warehouse yesterday, and there was this one order that was apparently urgent, and they said that if I got robbed, I should at least make it out with that package."

"You're exaggerating again, Erin…" Niagara replied.

"Okay, maybe a little bit." Erin said with a chuckle, "But it was on express delivery set for today, under the name, _Toshino Kyoko_…you don't think that-"

"Who knows?" Niagara replied, taking the free moment she had to fix her hair, "But I'll tell you one thing, I wish I were that Kyoko girl."

"Why?" Erin said, severely puzzled.

"Because that Kyoko whatever-her-name-is has a girlfriend that's willing to give the world and more for her…" Niagara replied, then tended to the next customer, effectively ending the conversation.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ayano rushed up to the bench where the couple had promised to meet. Surprisingly, Kyoko wasn't as early as Ayano anticipated. There were 5 minutes remaining, and Kyoko was nowhere in sight. Ayano quickly snuck a peek at the necklace. She pulled out of her purse the lovely blue velvet case, and opened it just enough to see the aquamarines glisten off the minuscule amount of light that was let in though the thin crack. Ayano gazed at it in wonder and amazement, thinking that soon this would be around the neck of the one she truly loved. The one she-

"Ay~a~no~!" sang a familiar voice, at whose sound Ayano quickly slammed the box shut, pinching her finger in the process, and shoved it into her purse.

"Kyoko!" Ayano exclaimed, as she turned around to face the blonde's smiling face running at her, arms open wide, and her personality shimmering as bright as those beautiful blue eyes. Ayano followed suit, and held her arms open wide, and was met with Kyoko's warm embrace. It lasted a few seconds, but then Kyoko let go, and Ayano got a good look at Kyoko's face. Was that a tear in her eye? "Are you alright? You seem like you're about to cry."

"Well…I missed you a lot!" Kyoko exclaimed, a new occurrence to Ayano. "I reserved this day exclusively for us, but then I get called away for that, and I was separated from you when I knew I didn't have to be! It was painful for me-" Ayano didn't let Kyoko finish and let impulse take over and shared the sympathies with a heartfelt kiss.

They held the kiss for roughly 10 seconds before they remembered that they were in a crowded mall and people might stare. But, for that moment, they didn't care a single bit. After they broke, Kyoko giddily exclaimed,

"Yay!"

"What are you so happy about?" Ayano asked.

"You felt the same way too." Kyoko replied with a giggle and a grin.

"Well, it's only natural isn't it?" Ayano retorted with a blush, eliciting another giggle from Kyoko. "So, what was your business about?"

"I thought you'd never ask!"Kyoko replied, as she pulled out a blue velvet box, just the right size for a…necklace. She handed it to Ayano, who shakily accepted it and opened it. It was a necklace encrusted with garnets, Ayano's birthstone. The red matched the shade of red Ayano's face was flushed at the moment. On the inside, she noticed some lettering. In a very elegant font, it read,

'_I'll never stop loving you…_' Ayano was on the brink of tears, she would've never guessed that a simple walk to the Amusement Club ended up with all this. It seemed like a fairy tale, but it was almost too good to be that even.

"D-do you like it?" Kyoko shakily asked.

_'Apprehension?'_ Ayano thought, _ 'I've never seen her unconfident of herself like this…she DOES truly love me…she wouldn't show this side to anyone else...'_

"I love it," Ayano replied, still in utter shock and awe at the event, "but,"

"But? But what?" Kyoko asked in a panic. Ayano delicately cupped her chin, "not as much as I love you…"

Ayano slid Kyoko the necklace while they were in the middle of their kiss, but Ayano knew it was arbitrary at the moment. Because that moment, to Ayano, was her symbol of full commitment to Kyoko.

When they broke the kiss, Kyoko gazed, marveled, oooh'd and ahh'd at Ayano's necklace she had gotten for her, and gave Ayano yet another kiss upon seeing the engraving.

They left the mall to be greeted by a gorgeous sunset.

"Look at us," Kyoko began, as they started walking, "we came her to get dinner and a movie, and we end up spending our time getting hodge podge meals at random diners we found while walking, and spending most of our time doing that, just walking around town!"

"Something wrong with that?" Ayano asked.

"Well, I had a whole romantic day planned out…and now it got messed up and you're probably mad at me knowing this…" Kyoko sulked.

"I could never be mad at you," Ayano replied, "you've given me one of the greatest days of my life. And I think of every day that I get with you, every hour, every minute, every second, as the greatest ones in my life. And I hope we can keep it like this forever."

"You have a lot of pent-up feelings don't you?" Kyoko replied.

"KYOKO!" Ayano exclaimed as she playfully shook Kyoko to the point of disorientation. When Kyoko regained her surroundings, she reassured Ayano,

"Of course we will!" and she swung her arm around Ayano, which had Ayano's arm as well since they were holding hands. "And our friends will be there to support us, no matter what!"

"Yeah, yeah they will!" Ayano exclaimed, with renewed confidence.

"Speaking of which," Kyoko began, "Comuket's in two weeks, so be ready, okay?"

"Of course!" Ayano triumphantly replied. "Same place as the last time right? The train station, the night before?"

"Yep!" Kyoko cheerily replied. "EEP!"

"What was that for?" Ayano asked as she grabbed her ear that Kyoko had squealed in.

"We're gonna be late for the train!" Kyoko exclaimed, pointing out the time.

"Well let's hurry!" Ayano exclaimed back as she grabbed Kyoko's hand and dashed to the train station.

The train ride home was just as joyful as the ride there, maybe even a little more joyful. The high point was when Ayano fell asleep on Kyoko's lap and Kyoko slyly took a picture with her phone's camera. However the shutter noise woke Ayano up and it didn't take long for her to put the pieces together.

"Kyoko! Delete that photo immediately!" Ayano demanded.

"Aww, but you're so cu~te!" Kyoko replied showing Ayano the picture. Ayano paused for a minute and though of how adorable she actually was in the picture, but still insisted that it be deleted.

"Nope, 'save permanently', 'set as wallpaper', done!" Kyoko displayed the finished product to Ayano proudly and Ayano both blushed and steamed. However Ayano left out the fact she already had a photo of her and Kyoko kissing as her phone's wallpaper, but Kyoko didn't need to know that, yet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The girls arrived home late and went their separate ways at the door of Ayano's house, since Kyoko's house wasn't too far of a walk from there. They kissed, said their, 'I love you's, and went their separate ways, both declaring they'll miss each other, and spending 20 seconds trying to figure out who would miss who more.

After Kyoko left Ayano ran up to her room and squealed loud and proud. But it wasn't one of disgust, it was one of love and pure elation. Ayano's mom came in after a while and asked,

"So, how'd it go?"

"We," Ayano began, "love each other. And that's how it will always be."

"Good." Ayano's mom replied. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chitose crammed her nose with tissues that night.

"Hey, Sis, the bath's ready-" Chizuru came into a blood splattered room and promptly screamed her lungs out. "What happened?"

"They-they-d-d-date…s-s-so…good…" Chitose murmured.

Chizuru let out a sigh, then grabbed her sister by the waist, slung her over her shoulders and dragged her into the bathroom.

"Let's get the blood stains out of your clothes…you're hopeless…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_A/N: Well, Chizuru took Chitose off of my hands so I can finally write the end A/N. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter, 'Comuket! Anything Can Happen!' coming soon! Thanks for all the love you guys are showing this fanfic (as always, ANY reviews/criticism is GREATLY appreciated, because that means you took the time to sit down, read this to the end, and have such interest in it that you took the time to give an opinion about it) and I hope I can continue it for many MANY more chapters! I'll see you all soon! :)_


	4. Comuket! (Part 1)

_A/N: _Hi…Yui here...apparently the author didn't think I got enough screen time (or would it be page time…) last chapter, and figured I should do the intro to this chapter; well, whatever…

So, Ayano and Kyoko finally became a thing, huh? Kyoko told me what happened after the last chapter closed up. She texted me and raved for pages on pages…and she seemed to get happier by the page…I wonder how Ayano's doing? Maybe I should visit and check up on her…

Oh, sorry, I got distracted from the original purpose of why I'm here! This chapter's all about what happens while we're at Comuket, it'll be Ayano's first time back in roughly 2 years! I just hope that was long enough to recover from the antics of her first year. Well, maybe today won't be too bad…

_Hey, Yui, how's the A/N coming along?_

Eh? Oh fine.

_You didn't get personal in it? I don't need to proofread it or anything?_

Ack! N-n-n-no! I should, uh, just get going, I have to get to the story! Sayonara!

_Huh…she's extra weird today…bah, it's probably nothing. Anyways! Thanks for reading so far and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Meanwhile, I need to go see if I can catch up to Yui…_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Train Station (Present Day, People Present: Kyoko & Yui (for now…))**

A cold breeze wafted through the nighttime air. It was hard to believe that just 2 weeks could change the mild late November winds to chilly mid December winds. Snow had already begun to fall, and it was piled up almost ankle high around the train station and the surrounding area. The station was abnormally quiet; there were a few people here and there, but I guess everyone else either had lives or just didn't want to get on the 2-way express train to Tokyo at 11:35 P.M. Whichever it was, it didn't deter the confident blonde and the stern black-haired girl (_Sorry I couldn't come up with any cool analogy for your hair Yui, but there's not a lot I can do with black hair_…).

"Ne, Yui," Kyoko whined, " what time is it?" Yui glanced at the clock that was just a head's turn above Kyoko but she decided that on the 23rd time, complaining about that was trivial.

"30 seconds later than the last time you asked me that…" Yui blandly replied to a Kyoko who was slumped into a nearby bench.

"They should all be here by now!" Kyoko complained, making a quick sweep of her surroundings. "What could be holding them up?!"

"Calm down," Yui replied, "maybe they had things at home to take care of."

"Maybe…" Kyoko moped, "but I'd hoped that Ayano would've at least been here by now…" with the mention of the purple-haired tsundere, Yui's expression and demeanor both changed a little bit.

"You two really love each other don't you?" Yui asked somewhat coldly.

"Yep!" A proud Kyoko replied, flashing a thumbs up pose to Yui, somehow to both Yui's pleasure and discontent. "But…"

"But what?" Yui began to ask, but was immediately cut off by Kyoko grabbing Yui's hands and glaring her right in the eye,

"No matter what happens between Ayano and I," Kyoko began, "I'll never forget my best friend!" Yui didn't know what to do in this situation, but whatever she wanted to do was ended when Kyoko let go almost immediately after she finished that sentence. Yui was in a dazed state for a few minutes, but she had to shake it off when a cheery Akari and Chinatsu ran up to the station to meet with Kyoko and Yui. Chinatsu's reaction was expected; a heartfelt hug to Yui and that was where she was to stay. Akari simply gave a set of greetings to everyone there.

"Chinatsu and I met up on our way here," Akari explained as the Amusement Club girls sat on the bench previously occupied by a laid out Kyoko, "so we decided to just walk the rest of the way here and I guess we got sidetracked and ran late…"

"Sidetracked!?" Chinatsu exclaimed, "You spilled juice on your shirt and had to go home and change when we were halfway here! It's a wonder that I didn't just leave you there and get here earlier to be with Yui-senpai longer!" A mortified Akari could only squeal as Yui and Kyoko tried to offer words of reassurance.

"Well," Kyoko said as she pulled a piece of paper out from coat, "That's 2 down, and 4 to go!"

"Four?" Inquired an obviously perplexed Yui, "Did you forget to count yourself and me as people again!?"

"No, silly Yui-nyan!" Kyoko replied, "I'm not that much of an idiot!"

_'Prior instances would suggest otherwise…'_ Yui thought to herself.

"The missing people are…" Kyoko began, but was interrupted by an all too familiar,

"TOSHINO KYOKO!"

Turning to see the obvious culprit, the Amusement Club girls were greeted by none other than Ayano, who was wearing a beautiful dark brown women's winter coat that was buttoned up, all save for the last button, and an aquamarine scarf (Note: Kyoko also had followed the trend and worn a scarf that was a deep garnet red, along with her light green jacket), and Chitose, who was dressed in a casual dark blue winter jacket, and whose nose was already beginning to bleed a little bit.

"YAY~ AYANO'S HERE!" Kyoko exclaimed as she embraced her girlfriend. "Ayano, you look so beautiful in that winter coat…"

"Well, naturally!" Ayano retorted, the area of snow surrounding the two slowly beginning to melt, "I'm the student council vice pre-" before she could finish her sentence, she was met by Kyoko's right index finger shushing her and Kyoko saying,

"It's ok…they know we're dating. No need for the tsundere act around them."

"How do I know, Kyoko?" Ayano replied in a hushed tone, still in Kyoko's embrace. The sheer fact that she used 'Kyoko' instead of 'Toshino Kyoko' shocking Akari and Chinatsu, but not as much as the kiss that followed. And this time, the snow around the couple full-on liquified.

Once the kiss broke, and Ayano regained her senses, she exclaimed,

"Wait, Akari, Chinatsu, why do you seem so surprised?!"

"You didn't tell them, Yui!?" Kyoko exclaimed at almost the exact same time.

"Well, you never told me to so I assumed that you had already told them!" Yui retorted.

"And you say I'm hopeless…" Kyoko replied.

Chitose would've liked to have acted as the voice of reason, but she was currently playing face-down in the red snow.

After a long conversation ("IT WAS ONLY 10 MINUTES!"…_Thanks Ayano…"_) the sides got sorted out, and everything was told; the kisses, the dates, and everything in between.

"And that's how Ayano made me the happiest person alive!" Kyoko said as she squeezed Ayano tighter than she had been holding her during the entire conversation.

"Well…not as happy as you've made me…" Ayano replied demurely, to which Kyoko could only squeal and kiss Ayano firmly as all Ayano could do in return was blush and press the tips index fingers up and down for a minute or so because of how dazed she was.

"I'm…sooooo…happy for you Ayano…." Chitose sporadically said, blood continually pouring down her face from her nose. Akari tried tissues, but these were the most intense nosebleeds the crew had ever seen in the history of Chitose's nosebleeds. "I'm sorry!" Chitose apologized as she got to her feet, "My nosebleeds have been out of control lately, even if I don't' have my glasses off sometimes!"

"Maybe it's because Ayano and I are finally dating," Kyoko began, "and we're getting all mushy in front of you?"

"WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST HINT!?" Ayano snapped.

"It's ok…I'll be fine…" Chitose said, attempting to instill some sense of reassurance in the crew, to no avail as the blood that would be pouring down her face was being stopped by only two tissue wads.

"You know, since this is going to be happening more frequently," Yui began, "maybe we should carry around a first aid kit with us at all times."

_'Or a defibrillator,' _Yui thought to herself,_ 'knowing the severity of some of her nosebleeds…'_ Chitose giggled a little bit, a stifled one if anything, as it was difficult to laugh or even breathe in general, with two tissue wads in her nostrils.

"The student council room always has one." Ayano injected. "And the nurse's office is just on the floor beneath us, so we're no more that a Pied Piper's Prance away from a first aid kid or tissues."

Yui tried to remain composed but couldn't hold it together at 'Pied Piper's Prance' and let out a resounding, "PFFFFFFFF! _Pied Piper's Prance…_" and stifled a laugh into her shoulder like she always did.

"Well," Yui began, "I think that since everyone's here-"

"But everyone's NOT here!" Kyoko moaned.

"Yes everyone is!" Yui steely replied. "Akari and Chinatsu?"

"Here!" Akari and Chinatsu sang, followed by Kyoko putting down a checkmark by their names on her list.

"Ayano and Chitose!" Yui exclaimed.

"Here!" They replied in unison, followed by Kyoko placing another checkmark on her list.

"And Sakurako and Himawari!" Yui exclaimed

"Here!" The duo replied, and Kyoko placed the final check on her list.

"See, everyone's here-wait…" Yui paused for a minute, then took another head count. "SAKURAKO AND HIMAWARI!?" Yui was in disbelief that the duo was here, even though she wasn't surprised knowing Kyoko, but that begged the question, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Oh," Himawari began, "Kyoko invited us." Yui couldn't help but notice the two were holding hands and that the snow around them was beginning to melt too.

"Kyoko!" Yui exclaimed, turning to a giddy Kyoko.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!" Yui and Ayano exclaimed in unison, then turned to face each other, puzzled, then returned to Kyoko.

"Surprise Comuket Guest!" Kyoko said as she struck a thumbs up pose, only to be met by the back of Yui's hand hitting the back of her head.

"That doesn't explain why they're here-" Yui began to remark but was interrupted by an anxious Kyoko who ran over to Ayano, grabbed her hand (causing a deep red blush to fill Ayano's face), and then exclaimed,

"C'mon guys, we'll miss our train!" And with that Kyoko dragged Ayano off, the rest of the crew in tow.

"WE'RE NOT DONE WITH THIS TOPIC!" Yui exclaimed, running after the rest of the crew.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Half an hour later the crew was in what was essentially their own private train car. It was entirely empty, except for the crew, and they were definitely not arguing with it, Ayano especially. I mean, a train car, the rest of the crew would be sleeping at some point, and….

"So, Kyoko," Yui began, facing an obviously giddy Kyoko who had her arms wrapped tenderly around Ayano, "you still haven't explained to me what Sakurako and Himawari are doing here."

"Well," Kyoko began, "the last few Comukets or so, I've only needed to bring You, Chinatsu, and Akari along,"

"Why am I the last one listed?…" a weeping Akari inquired.

"But, this Comuket is a little different." Kyoko stated as she gained a serious expression. "My doujinshi blew up with the start of the Mirakurun anime, and they promoted me to a larger booth, so I can further fund my endeavors. Well, naturally, I didn't think that just the Amusement Club alone could handle this event, so…" Kyoko made a gesture to Ayano, Chitose, Himawari, and Sakurako, "I figured if I brought along the Student Council, we would have no problem!"

"When Kyoko called us," Sakurako began, "Himawari and I were…in the middle of something…" Sakurako and Himawari's faces flushed the deepest shade of red they've ever been.

"But we agreed to come along," Himawari injected, "we thought it would be fun and a good learning experience!"

_'Learning experience?…'_ Yui thought to herself, trying to keep it secret that she was thinking this, but her face obviously showed otherwise. Chitose cracked a small giggle, causing Yui's face to change to one of puzzlement. _'Can this girl read thoughts too!?'_

"That's the attitude!" Kyoko replied, flashing yet another thumbs up pose.

"Though I must ask." Himawari began, "Sugiura-senpai…" Ayano took her eyes off of her lap and faced Himawari, "what are you doing here? And why are you so, close to Kyoko? You even called her by her first name back at the train station." Ayano's face instantly turned a tomato red, and she was at a loss for words.

"Oh, that's simple!" Kyoko replied, "Ayano and I are dating now!" and with that Kyoko wrapped her arms around Ayano tightly, much to Ayano's unhide-able pleasure.

"You too!?" Sakurako exclaimed.

"What do you mean, 'you too?'" Ayano inquired, her eyes still locked with Kyoko's.

"Well…" Sakurako began.

"Um…" Himawari said.

"Himawari and I are dating too! Okay?" Sakurako exclaimed, and in the process, leaning over to passionately kiss Himawari.

"Aww, how sweet!" Chitose exclaimed. "We have two couples on this amazing trip, who knows what could happen?"

_'The Red Sea, straight from your nose, that's what'll happen…' _Yui thought to herself, and another giggle was elicited from Chitose, much to Yui's horror.

"So when did you guys start dating?" Chinatsu inquired of Sakurako.

"It was a few weeks ago, when Sugiura-san left for the Amusement Club on business." Sakurako replied. "She said she had to go take a survey of the Amusement Club or something, which is weird because I was sure that we could've filed that form out on our own…"

"WAAAAHHH!" Ayano exclaimed, her embarrassment showing more than ever, and Kyoko just grinning at these happenings.

"Yeah, I though that was the first one we filled out, wasn't it?" Himawari asked Sakurako.

"Yeah, so I guess it was her that made the first move." Sakurako replied.

"This conversation is rapidly moving away from the subject of you guys…" Yui said blandly.

"Anyways," Sakurako continued, "we just got to talking after I dropped something, and one thing led to another and, now we're here." Sakurako smiled a broad smile, then hugged Himawari.

"You smell so sweet today," Himawari commented to Sakurako, "are you wearing that perfume we bought yesterday?"

"Yep," Sakurako replied with a broad smile, "'_Honto ni aishiteru No. 5'_"

"Smells more like a poppy field than anything to me…" Chinatsu grumbled.

"It's a pleasant change of pace not seeing you two arguing." Akari stated.

"Oh, you don't see what goes on behind the scenes…but…I guess that's what makes us stronger and keeps us together!" Sakurako replied. Himawari giggled, then asked,

"So, Sugiura-senpai, Kyoko, when did you guys first start dating?"

"Eh!?" Ayano exclaimed, "Well-" she began but was cut off by Kyoko stating,

"Sorry, we can't tell you."

"WHAT?!" Ayano exclaimed, "WHY CAN'T WE?!" Kyoko turned to Ayano, and gazed deep into her eyes, then stated,

"There's no snow in here to melt when we kiss." Ayano smacked her girlfriend on the top of her head, then exclaimed,

"Just shut up and kiss me already!"

_'Did I really just say that?' _Ayano thought to herself, _'Did I honestly ever think that in all the years I've secretly loved this girl I'd be saying that sentence in front of these people? And to her no less? It feels, amazing. Why did I wait 2 long years to come out about it like this? Why couldn't my heart have been more honest about things long ago? I could've been enjoying this girl far longer than now. These few weeks and the dates and kisses and more that have come with them have been the happiest of my life…So imagine what 2 more years of this would have felt like? I'll have to think back on this in the future…But, there are more important things now, did she think I was being harsh? Will she not do it because she thinks I'm-'_

"I thought you'd never ask…" Kyoko replied, and obeyed Ayano's command. Ayano didn't know what to say or do, except pray that Chitose didn't die of a nosebleed brought on by her actions. Thankfully, Chitose had taken precautions and asked someone to hold her glasses onto her face for her, so she was safe. The intensity felt at that moment was mixed with something else, jealousy maybe? No one could really tell where it was coming from, although Yui had been relatively silent throughout that whole discussion…But to Ayano and Kyoko, that didn't matter. What mattered was the moment, and where they were heading together.

Although there wasn't any snow to melt, there were windows to steam up on that train…

**(That Night)**

The crew slept on the bench seats of the train that night. Himawari and Sakurako slept arm in arm, and it seemed like there was more going on underneath those sheets. The occasional licking, sucking, and moaning sounds could be heard from underneath the sheets, but no one made a real comment on it. Kyoko shook herself awoke from her deep slumber. She was sleeping surprisingly far from Ayano, who was on the other side of the train car, sleeping on her own. Kyoko slipped out from underneath the blankets she was under with Yui. She slowly crept over to Ayano, careful not to way anyone else up on her way there. Ayano was sitting up, wrapped tightly in a light blue blanket, her ponytail draped down the back of it. She was mumbling some things in her sleep, but Kyoko couldn't make them out, so she decided to just continue with what she was doing.

"Psst~Ayano…" Kyoko whispered to Ayano as she shook her awake. Ayano looked around, until her sleepy eyes focused in on Kyoko.

"Oh, Kyoko," Ayano sleepily said, "what is it?" Kyoko giggled,

"Your sleepy voice is so cute…" Kyoko trailed off. Ayano's face instantly turned red at that statement.

"EH-" Ayano began to wail, but she soon felt a ginger hand cup over her mouth,

"Shh…" Kyoko said, as she teased her finger around Ayano's month and underneath her chin. "We don't want to wake the others do we?" Kyoko gingerly sat down next to Ayano, trying not to make the seat creak. "Do you mind if I sleep with you tonight?" Kyoko asked, in as seducing a tone as she could. Ayano was still recovering from the fact that Kyoko had touched her face, but managed to squeak out,

"Y-yeah, sure. Go ahead." Ayano unraveled her blanket, and let Kyoko in.

"This blanket's kinda small Ayano…" Kyoko moaned.

"W-well then, maybe we should…" Ayano shyly began, "cuddle?" Kyoko immediately snuggled up to Ayano at the word.

"I thought you'd never ask…" Kyoko lightly said. She buried her head in Ayano's chest, much to Ayano's pleasure and embarrassment. Ayano gingerly stroked Kyoko's hair, and kissed her head. "Ayano…I was worried…" Ayano looked puzzled,

"Why?" Ayano said as she put her finger beneath Kyoko's chin and lifted up her face to see she was crying a little bit. Ayano was fascinated, she had never seen Kyoko driven to tears, or even in a sad mood. So, Ayano didn't know what to do. She only knew how to do what she had already done.

"I was worried that you wouldn't be public about our relationship…" Kyoko whispered. Ayano froze in disbelief as she continued to listen, "but, after everything that you've done, I know that our love is true, especially when you told me to kiss you in front of everyone. And know that I will do everything I can, to be the best I can for you."

"You don't have to do anything special for me…" Ayano replied shyly. Kyoko gazed at Ayano in wonder, "Because…" Ayano continued, " just you being with me is enough. You've made me the happiest girl alive, and I always will be, as long as you're with me, Kyoko." Ayano felt Kyoko grip tighter on her, and say,

"I love you, Ayano, with all my heart." Ayano froze,

_'I thought she'd never say it…'_ Ayano thought to herself.

"I love you too, Kyoko." Ayano replied. No one needed any more invitation after that. The two leaned in for the kiss, their tongues seemed to be the first things that touched, not their lips. They wrestled one another's tongues for what seemed like hours on end, until they broke to catch their breath. They gasped, somehow not waking up the others, and then resumed their passion. Kyoko's hands grabbed at Ayano's chest, causing Ayano a great deal of pleasure. Kyoko slipped her hands underneath Ayano's sleeping shirt, and tenderly grabbed at Ayano's supple breasts. Ayano winced a little bit, but in pleasure. Ayano returned the favor by slipping her delicate hands down Kyoko's sleeping pants and grabbed tightly to her butt. Ayano giggled a little bit, remembering her time in Tainai Meguri 2 years ago with Kyoko, when Kyoko had groped her in the darkness; much to Ayano's pleasure and enjoyment. But at the time, Ayano couldn't say anything about it because she was too shy, or too tsun tsun, she wasn't sure at the time. But that didn't matter, what mattered was the here and now.

_'Wow…her skin's soft, all over…' _Ayano lamented as she continued to caress Kyoko's butt and moved ever closer towards uncharted territory, undeterred as Kyoko continued to do the same to her, all the time, their mouths and tongues fighting for superiority in the war of who loved who the most. However, there can be no winner in a war where both sides are equal. Clothes began to slip off, skin came to touch skin, all underneath a simple light blue blanket. Kyoko's fingers gingerly teased at Ayano's panties, and Ayano whispered,

"Please…" her eyes locked lovingly with Kyoko's as she gladly obliged, as Ayano's panties slowly slid off, seeming to stick a little bit as they tore away from Ayano's pussy. But before they were even all the way off, as Ayano began to tease Kyoko's panties off, they noticed a small trickle of liquid coming from one of the seats.

"What is that?" Kyoko inquired as she sat up a little bit. "Did someone spill their drink or something?" Ayano sat up a little as well, but covered herself with the blanket before anything else. She looked over to Kyoko, who bore no protection at all over her chest and asked,

"Sh-shouldn't you cover up?" Kyoko turned her head to Ayano and responded,

"What for?" eliciting a giggle and a stifled wail of disbelief from Ayano. The two traced the trail all the way to the other end of the train car, until they realized that no one really opened a drink while they were awake, so it couldn't be that. Upon that moment of realization, they both realized that 1) They should probably stop stepping in it, 2) Find as many tissues as possible as soon as possible, and 3) Find something to make Chitose keep her glasses on.

After the girls ran cleanup duty without waking the others up and found a way to keep Chitose's glasses on the two crawled back underneath their blanket.

"I think for Chitose's safety we should just hold this off until later…" The two said in unison, surprising one and causing another to blush (_I'll let you decide who did what_). And so they cuddled up close to each other and fell fast asleep in each other's arms.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After an overnight train ride, the gang woke up early (not by their own doing, but by a certain blonde who smacked and pinched each one of them awake an hour earlier than necessary) to discuss their roles.

"Okay," Kyoko began as she whipped out an all too familiar pink box with the words 'TRUTH OR DARE' scribbled out and underneath them written, 'ROLE LOTTERY', "We'll draw roles from this box to see who will be in charge of what!"

"WHAT?!" Everyone exclaimed in unison.

"Again, why do you always have that thing with you?" Yui asked, "And when do you find the time to restock it with new notes and rewrite on it?!"

"Haha!" Kyoko soffed, "That's a secret!"

"Ehhhh…." Yui moaned in reply.

"Oh no! No no Norway am I doing ANOTHER one of your lotteries!" Ayano exclaimed, eliciting a giggle from Yui.

"Oh, c'mon Ayano!" Kyoko moaned, grabbing her hands and looking her in the eye, "For me?" Ayano was helpless at the sight of this adorable girl she loved so much,

"Anything for you…" Ayano said as she pulled her love closer for a kiss but the two both came back down to Earth and realized that they could save this for later…

"On the count of three, we'll all open our pieces of paper!" Kyoko exclaimed. Ayano immediately had flashbacks to 2 years ago, the couples Christmas lottery, when she missed her opportunity to have a date with Kyoko. But it was strange, she remembered something else about that day…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(2 Years Ago, Student Council Room, People Present: Ayano, Chitose, Sakurako, Himawari)**

Ayano walked into the empty Student Council Room, even President Mastumoto wasn't there, and proceeded to her locker. She began to store her bag when suddenly, her phone vibrated.

"A text message?" Ayano asked herself. She opened her phone to check the message:

**From: T.K.**

**To: Ayano Sugiura**

**'TODAY THERE WILL BE A COUPLE'S LOTTERY; BE THE LAST PERSON TO DRAW FROM THE BOX TO GET A DATE WITH TOSHINO KYOKO.'**

Ayano stood in the room, those words glaring back at her for what seemed like hours. In reality, it was just a minute or two.

"A date…with…Toshino…Kyoko…" Ayano repeated those words to herself over and over again, her face blushing more and more each time she said them. "That…would be…fantastic…" Ayano thought about this again, but decided to tell herself, "This message is obviously a gag text! Nothing more, Mount Rushmore!" Somewhere in the building, she thought she could hear someone say,

"PFFFF…Nothing more, Mount Rushmore…" but she decide to disregard it, and the text message, and promptly deleted the message. But, the words still rang in her head the entire day. Even while she was doing her Vice Presidential duties, all she could think about was the potential to get a date with Kyoko…

The doors to the Student Council Room burst open, and in walked Kyoko, in holiday attire, and everyone else, their faces riddled with the expressions of being dragged into yet another one of Kyoko's antics.

"Let's have a couple's lottery!" Kyoko exclaimed, at those words, Ayano tensed up, but made sure that no one noticed it.

"Jeez, you're so random, Toshino Kyoko!" Ayano groaned. However, she was unable to hide her undeniable blush, just from the blonde being in the same room as her.

"I think it's a great idea!" Chitose exclaimed. "_You might get to go on a date with Toshino-san…_" Chitose whispered to Ayano, who promptly blushed and exclaimed,

"EHHH!?"

"I think it'll be fine," Himawari began, "I'll be glad if I get to spend Christmas with anyone other than Sakurako!"

"Yeah!" Sakurako chimed, "Anyone but-HEY!"

"Then it's decided!" Kyoko exclaimed. She passed around the pink box, and Ayano unknowingly drew when the box came to her, only realizing her mistake after she made it.

_'It's too late…'_ Ayano thought as she watched the box get passed to Chitose, _'Why didn't I think about it?…Why didn't I just say that I'll pick last?…How could I forget?…' _Ayano carefully observed who was the last person to pick from the box, _'Yoshikawa Chinatsu-san'_

"Alright!" Kyoko declared, "On three, we open our notes!"

"Alright!" Everyone replied in unison

_'Well,' _Ayano thought, _'If I get a date with Toshino Kyoko, I suppose I have no choice!' _

"One…Two…Three!" Kyoko counted down and everyone opened their notes.

"I'm with Himawari?!" Sakurako exclaimed.

"I'm with Sakurako?!" Himawari exclaimed.

"I'm with Akari-chan!" Chitose said demurely, as she gazed over at Akari, whose buns flew on and off of her head as she exclaimed,

"Oh! Okay!"

"I'm with you, Ayano." Yui blankly said. Ayano gazed down at her paper and realized,

_'The message didn't lie…'_ Ayano gazed longingly at Kyoko, who was fangirl-ing over Chinatsu, _'I REALLY should've picked last…'_

**(Sometime Later, Ayano and Yui's 'Date')**

The the duo sat on a park bench a little ways away from the big Christmas tree. People passed by occasionally and, and it looked like it was about to snow. Yui blowed a puff of warm air into her hands, and Ayano stared down into her lap, longingly.

"I hope I'm not boring you." Yui said as she turned to Ayano. Ayano looked up from her lap and managed to sigh out a,

"Oh, no, not at all…" Ayano longingly replied.

"Was there, someone you wanted to go on a date with specifically?" Yui asked. Instantly Ayano's face became flushed with red, and she frantically said,

"OH, NO! N-N-N-NO ONE!" her hands were a flurry of gestures, some Yui didn't even recognize, but, all the same Yui sat back and politely said,

"Yeah, I wanted to be on a date with her too…"

"Eh?" Replied a puzzled Ayano. "What do you mean by that?" Yui chuckled a little bit, causing Ayano to become even more puzzled.

_'That's the first time she's laughed around me, and it wasn't because of one of my jokes…'_ Ayano thought to herself.

"I won't lie," Yui began, "I know how you really feel about her." Yui's eyes turned to Ayano and locked with hers at the end of that sentence, and seemed to glisten a little bit. Ayano couldn't hide her true self around Yui anymore, she knew that; but she could sure as hell try.

"I-I still have no idea what on Earth you're talking about!" Ayano retorted, unable to hide the blush that dominated her face. Yui chuckled again,

"You're determined to carry this out to the end aren't you?" She sharply asked, "I commend that; tsundere." Yui put both of her hands behind her head, and on the back of her neck as she said, "I know you love her. And you know who I mean by _her_. To-shi-no Kyo-ko." Each individual syllable of Kyoko's name was both like a warm embrace and a sharp dagger to Ayano's ears. "At least that's what you like to call her," Yui continued, "I'll never get why though; Kyoko's a beautiful name, it must be hard for you not to say it when you see her, and it must be hard not to try and kiss her each time you see her." At this point, Ayano was speechless, and helpless. All she could do was sit back and watch Yui unleash her wrath. "It's hard for me, too. But I envy you." A statement at which Ayano jumped at to reassume her part in this conversation.

"Envy me? What for?" Ayano inquired.

"You're all she talks about when her and I are alone." Yui replied, much to Ayano's shock. "It's either, 'Ayano told me this today', or 'Ayano did this with me today', or 'Ayano's sweet like the pudding she shares with me every now and again!'. She thinks the world of you. And I don't get why; with the way you're so curt to her sometimes, but I guess she finds it cute or something. As far as I know…" Yui trailed off before putting her hands on Ayano's shoulders, leaning in, and whispering in her ear, _"She's head over heels for you…"_

Ayano froze when she heard those words; there was nothing else she could do. To think that the one she loved, was doing the exact same thing that she was doing, except with a cheerier disposition. And what's more, the feeling was reciprocated on both ends! To Ayano, this was too good to be true, her true love was secretly in love with her! Ayano was at a loss for anything that you could possibly be at a loss for, but somehow, she muttered,

"I could've been on a date with her today…"

"What do you mean?" Yui coldly asked.

"Someone sent me a text message, about 10 minutes before you guys came in…" Ayano replied. "They said, that there was going to be a couple's lottery today. And that if I drew last from the lottery box, that I would get a date with Toshino Kyoko."

"What?!" Yui exclaimed. _'So that's who she was texting…' _Yui thought to herself as Ayano continued.

"At the time I wrote it off as a gag, and just deleted the message and paid it no mind." Ayano continued, "But when you guys came in, I started suspecting something was up. This was all too good to be true. And when the box came my way, I didn't have the guts to say that I'd go last. And when I realized that," Ayano paused for a moment, and Yui thought she saw what looked like a tear going down Ayano's cheek, "It was too late…" There was a long pause, and Yui then replied,

"So, what did you learn from this?"

"What do you mean?" Ayano replied as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"What did you learn? How will you better yourself from this experience?" Yui retorted. Ayano thought long and hard, and then replied,

"Always choose last in Kyoko's lotteries?" Yui exhaled,

"Not quite the answer I was looking for, but alright!" Yui then put her right hand on Ayano's left shoulder, and said, "Just be a little more confident when you're around her, ok?" Ayano was still crying at this point, but managed to choke out an,

"Ok…" Yui smiled and the two returned to their original positions, and both thought,

_'Awkward…'_ Although Yui's thoughts finished with something more devious,

_'Although, just because I know you're both in love…doesn't mean I like it…'_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_'Why am I just now remembering this?…' _Ayano thought to herself, but decided not to give that too much thought.

"Sugiura-senpai?" Sakurako asked Ayano, as Ayano shook herself to reality,

"YES?!" she exclaimed

"Um, it's your turn to draw from the lottery box…" Himawari demurely stated. Ayano glanced down at the lottery box and thought,

_'This is why…'_ she turned her head up to face Himawari and said,

"Um, actually, I think I'll draw from the box last, if it's not too much of a problem."

"Why wait?" Chinatsu inquired, "Why not just draw now?…"

"Now, now, Chinachu," Kyoko began, but was immediately interrupted by an infuriated Chinatsu, who exclaimed,

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU I DON'T LIKE BEING CALLED THAT A LONG TIME AGO!" Kyoko just chuckled and continued,

"if Ayano wants to draw last, then she can do that, it's perfectly fine." A broad smile stuck on Kyoko's face when she said that, one that made her appear happier than she'd ever been before. The box continued to be passed around until the end when Ayano took her draw, then Kyoko counted off,

"One…Two…Three!" On 'Three', everyone opened up their notes.

"I got Equipment Manager #1!" Sakurako exclaimed.

"I got Equipment Manager #2!" Himawari exclaimed.

"#1 and #2?" Yui said, perplexed. "What's going on here, Kyoko?" Kyoko laughed, and replied,

"I made it so that there are matching pairs for each Comuket duty!" then she struck a thumbs up pose.

_'Matching pairs?…'_ Ayano thought to herself, _'Could that mean…'_ she glanced down at her piece of paper, her hopes rising by the minute.

"As equipment managers," Kyoko began, "you guy's duty will be to see that all our supplies are in order. That includes the doujinshi books themselves, the costumes for the cosplay, the bags, and the snacks!"

"Basically, lackeys…" Sakurako moaned.

"At least it's with you…" Himawari muttered to Sakurako, who was caught off guard and whose face was immediately flushed a bright red.

"I'm booth #1 Attendee #1!" Chitose exclaimed.

"I'm #2!" Akari chimed in.

"Ah! You guys have pivotal roles!" Kyoko exclaimed. "You're in charge of the first booth, in the eastern section of the building, you'll monitor sales and EVERYTHING that happens there!"

"What else happens there besides sales?" Akari asked.

"I'm cosplayer #1." Yui declared.

"And I'm #2!" an overly elated Chinatsu declared as she held tight to Yui.

"Is no one gonna answer my question?…" Akari moped.

"There's a certain degree of poetic irony/destiny going on with Chinatsu being a cosplayer…" Kyoko began, "but I'm not gonna say anything."

"Wow, that's a first." Chinatsu said, stunned.

"What is?" Kyoko inquired.

"Well, normally, anytime that I talk about Mirakurun, or cosplaying her," Chinatsu began, "you usually flip your lid and go crazy. But recently, you've been…different." Kyoko, simply laughed, and blushed a little bit at the same time, and replied,

"I thought you said that cosplaying Mirakurun lost it's novelty to you."

"It's different if it's with Yui-senpai!" Chinatsu snapped back.

"Is there anything special we need to know about being cosplayers this go-around?" Yui asked.

"No, nothing really." Kyoko replied, "Just alternate between booths every hour or hour and half to sign autographs and stuff like that. If you ever get tired of it, just let me know and I'll have you guys switch spots with the Equipment Managers!"

"When did we get dragged into this?!" Himawari and Sakurako exclaimed in unison.

"So, that leaves just you and I, Ayano!" Kyoko declared, as she wrapped her arm around Ayano.

"Huh?" Ayano replied, her face beginning to flush with red.

"And the only jobs left are…Booth #2 Attendees #1 & 2 in the western half of the building!" Kyoko declared proudly.

"Basically just sales and junk?" Ayano sighed.

"Yep!" An earnest Kyoko replied.

_'Well, at least she's honest about it…'_ Ayano thought to herself.

"Well, at least it's a day with you…" Ayano longingly sighed.

"Exactly!" Kyoko replied, giving Ayano a little peck on the cheek, reassuring that there was more from where that came from. "Alright everyone, now that we have our roles, let's get ready for this amazing day!"

"It would've been more amazing if I could've slept another hour…" Yui muttered, eliciting yet another giggle from Chitose.

_'Note to self:' _Yui thought to herself, _'Keep the private retorts to a minimum around that girl…_'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The train arrived in Tokyo early in the morning, and the crew packed up their bags and got a move on. They arrived outside of Comuket an hour before it even started. Kyoko then let out a squeal of delight, and whipped herself around and said,

"Let's get started!"

"With what exactly?…" Yui replied dryly. Kyoko responded by pointing over towards the large boxes that were a few feet away from them. "How did we not notice those?!" Yui exclaimed.

"Must be because we're so tired." Chitose replied with a smile. Yui smiled back, but upon looking at Chitose's face, she wondered something,

_'That's right…with all these moments between Kyoko and Ayano…' _Yui gazed at Chitose's face for a few seconds, _'how is she keeping her glasses on?' _Yui took a second look at Chitose's glasses, and then noticed something; behind Chitose's ears, where her glasses wrapped around, were those, hooks? Yui paid it no mind, and then got back to the topic at hand.

"Now, Equipment Managers!" Kyoko proclaimed. Himawari and Sakurako stood at attention, and replied,

"SIR, YES SIR?" Yui gave a bizarre glare to the duo,

_'When did this turn into a military project?…'_ Yui thought to herself. Again, another giggle from Chitose from behind, resulting in a scream of horror from Yui.

"You guys need to move these boxes to their respective places." Kyoko declared. "They're each marked with labels that say what they are and where they should go, it's self-explanatory." Himawari and Sakurako gave a salute and began to move boxes as Kyoko continued with her debriefing. "Eastern Booth Attendees!" Chitose and Akari stood at attention, and gave a resounding,

"SIR, YES SIR?"

Kyoko pointed towards the long line going into the building's eastern half, then handed the duo a piece of paper, "These are the instructions on how to get to our booth in the eastern half," She began, "simply follow them and you'll find the booth. From there, wait until either Sakurako or Himawari arrives with your supplies, and start selling!"

"Seems fairly simple." Chitose grinned.

"Gotcha Kyoko!" Akari beamed. Kyoko gave a broad smile, and then turned to Yui and Chinatsu,

"Cosplayers!" Kyoko exclaimed. Chinatsu and Yui turned to Kyoko and gave a simple,

"Yeah?" shattering Kyoko.

"What's wrong?" Chinatsu asked.

"You guys broke the streak we had going…" Kyoko melodramatically weeped. Yui gave her a prompt hit on the back of the head,

"JUST TELL US WHERE WE NEED TO GO!" She exclaimed. Kyoko immediately got up, smiled, and picked up where she left off.

"You guys go with Himawari and Sakurako, and get your costumes." Kyoko began, "From there, move to the eastern booth first, and stay there for about an hour or so. Afterwards, just alternate between booths every hour or so."

"So, what exactly are we supposed to do while we're at the booths?" Yui inquired.

"Sign autographs, look good, and anything else anyone asks you too." Kyoko replied.

"Oh well," Chinatsu groaned, "at least it's a day with Yui-senpai!" She threw herself at Yui, giving her a loving embrace; for once, Yui had no reaction or retort to something.

"And Ayano," Kyoko began as she faced Ayano, who acquired a blush on her face and a pair of pursed lips, "'we'll be going through that entrance over there," Kyoko pointed to the building's western half, "and handling the booth there!"

"But that lines are immense!" Ayano exclaimed as she gestured to the lines that seemed to go all the way back to the train station downtown where the group got off. Kyoko simply laughed and then reached in to her pocket as she began,

"That's why I brought…" Kyoko whipped out several laminated cards on necklaces from her pocket, "THESE!" Kyoko struck a triumphant pose.

"And those are…" Yui said with a bland expression.

"Passes!" Kyoko replied. "These will allow us to bypass the line and just go right in. And look, I have one for each of us this time, so I don't end up going through general admission!" Yui giggled a little bit, as she remembered all the other times the crew had been to Comuket, even the Summer Comuket that same year, when Kyoko had always forgotten to bring a fourth pass, so Kyoko would always end up going through general admission. But what made this year different?

"Ok, Comuket…" Kyoko said as she threw her hand into the middle of the group, followed by everyone else, who stacked their hands on top of one another's, "START!" Kyoko exclaimed as everyone threw their hands up to the sky.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Western Hall, Kyoko and Ayano's Booth)**

Ayano gazed intently at Kyoko as she watched the blonde carry out her duty without a worry in the world, despite the massive crowd that was gathered at their booth. The line reached past the booth they were adjacent to, a booth for a manga called, _'Whispered Words'_, and further back still.

_'Wow…' _Ayano thought to herself, _'It's amazing how much can change in 2 years or so. Last I remember, she just had a commonplace booth at the main entry. But to come from that to getting her own private booth in a completely different hall, and another one on top of that in the hall opposite to it?! What have I missed with this girl?' _Ayano continued to think as she handed out volume after volume of Kyoko's doujinshi, making sure to give exact change upon the customer's purchase. _'Deep down, how well do we know each other? On a past date or two we've talked about our in general favorites, but what about the deeper things? The sad part is, it's mostly on my part…I've been failing to open up to her as much as I'd like to…whereas she's been fully open about everything to me. What a failure I am…Kyoko…I'm sorry…' _Ayano wiped a single tear from her eye, making it fast enough that the rest of the people at the booth didn't notice, but what people did notice, was what happened next. Kyoko sure as hell caught Ayano's quick tear wipe, and immediately dropped the volume she had in hand, turned to Ayano, grabbed her, pulled her in tight, and kissed her. Ayano's body was instantaneously overcome with a feeling of warmth and pleasure, all materialistic and arbitrary worries immediately vanished from mind and sight. The crowd around the two was speechless at first, but slowly a roar of applause and clapping arose, as the women in the crowed screamed in elation.

When the kiss broke, Ayano whispered, "Kyoko…what was that for?…"

Kyoko leaned in towards Ayano and whispered back, "Don't ever feel like a failure…you never have been one, and you never will be to me." Ayano froze for a moment, and thought,

_'Can she read my thoughts? Did she see my tear? What gave me away?…' _Ayano certainly wasn't questioning it too much though. It was a kiss from Kyoko after all, and those are welcome at any time. Kyoko then whispered to Ayano,

"C'mon, we're girlfriends, we can't help but be in sync, that's how I knew what was up!" Ayano blushed, but continued to listen, "We'll be getting to know each other _much better _if my surprise I have planned works out as well as I think it will." There she went, bringing up that surprise again. Kyoko had been talking about it for two weeks now, and wouldn't give an inch on it's properties. What it was, who was involved; all she knew was that Kyoko had it planned for after Comuket. "You're going to love it, I know it, now do me a favor."

"What is it?" Ayano inquired. Kyoko then gestured behind Ayano,

"Could you hand me my drink, I'm thirsty." Kyoko replied, eliciting a small groan from Ayano, who dutifully brought Kyoko's bottle of water to her, and said,

"You're hopeless…" as she resumed her position. Ayano continued to distribute doujinshi to customers and fans as she lamented over how she really didn't deserve a girl as amazing as Kyoko.

_'Kyoko, I promise,' _Ayano thought to herself, _'from now on, I'll always be open with you…because…I love you.'_

Ayano gazed into the corner of her eye, and noticed a small camera crew and a female reporter walking away, instantly she froze and thought, _'How much did they see?!...'_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Eastern Hall, Akari and Chitose's Booth)**

Akari and Chitose carried out their selling duties diligently; well, Chitose at least, Akari's booth seemed oddly empty, as if it wasn't even there. In fact, the most work Akari caught was bringing Chitose a drink when she seemed tired, or relieving her of her duties for a minute or two while she rested. But a time or two, Akari noticed what looked like hooks on Chitose's glasses, behind her ears. Akari spent many minutes wondering what those hooks could be. When Chitose caught a break between fans, Akari asked Chitose,

"Um, Ikeda-senpai?" Chitose turned her head to Akari and inquired,

"What is it, Akari-chan?"

"Um," Akari began, "what's with those hooks on your glasses?"

Chitose looked puzzled for a minute, but then she responded, "Oh these!" as she pointed to the hooks, which were attached to something on the back of her neck. Chitose pulled down the back of her turtleneck to reveal a strap that was tied into her hair, "You see, with Ayano and Toshino-san being around each other so much on this trip, I had to take precautions to ensure I didn't die of blood loss. So, I tied this strap around my neck, and attached these two hooks to my glasses so I can't take them off and get a nosebleed! And if I tried, it would pull this strand of my hair out!"

"Oh," Akari replied, "I get it!"

Akari mired at this sadistic way of controlling impulse, but nonetheless, continued on with her duties (or lack thereof).

"And I thought I was supposed to be the protagonist…" Akari moaned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Building Back Entrance, Sakurako and Himawari)**

Sakurako and Himawari toted individual boxes back and forth between the entry and exit, seeming to drag on for longer and longer each trip they took back to the front baggage claim area. Finally, after setting down a heavy box labeled, 'RUM RAISIN' which was unusually cold, Sakurako plopped down on the floor and moaned,

"Bahhhh~Let's take a break!"

Himawari gazed over to Sakurako after setting down her box labeled, 'Cosplay #4' and said,

"You sure you don't have enough energy left in you for one more trip?"

Sakurako intently gazed back at Himawari with tired, but longing, eyes, replying, "Drop the tough girl act, I know you're tired too." Himawari froze,

"I-I don't know what you mean…" Sakurako grabbed at Himawari's skirt, and pulled her down to the floor next to her, replying,

"After last night, I'm not surprised…it's ok, you're only human." Himawari recoiled in surprise, but didn't argue laying down with Sakurako in a closed room.

"It's difficult sometimes…" Himawari began.

"And I don't make it any easier on you, do I?" Sakurako injected. Himawari rolled over and wrapped her arms around Sakurako.

"Don't ever say that again, alright?" Himawari lightly said. "You are the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, no matter what you or anyone says. I just make it overly complicated for myself because I overindulge in jobs that I know I can't complete, but I do regardless."

"Then maybe it's time I change something about that." Sakurako stated as she began to rise.

"What are you doing?" Himawari asked.

"You just rest the rest of today, alright?" Sakurako replied. "I'll handle the rest of the work." Himawari was at a loss, here was Sakurako, the girl who abhorred work and any form of physical labor in general, volunteering to take care of a busy day's worth of work, more than she had likely ever seen in her life! "I'll be fine, you just rest, ok?"

Himawari nodded, blushing at the same time. Sakurako giggled, then ran off. After making sure Sakurako was safely out of sight, Himawari pulled something out of her shirt. A marriage form, one that had been tattered and torn slightly, but still in fairly pristine condition. Himawari unfolded the piece of paper gently, and gazed at the crude scribblings in crayon, done by young, impudent, bull-headed kindergarteners (who just happened to love each other more than anything else). Himawari examined every fine detail of the paper, from the insane 'Job' ideas to the words 'Wife' and 'Wife' written at the top. There were a few sections not filled out, but that was primarily because, back in those years, Sakurako's older sister couldn't read those words, so the two just paid them no mind.

_'One day…' _Sakurako thought to herself, _'soon…'_ Sakurako folded the paper back up, and shoved it into her bra, where she knew it would be safe, and fell soundly asleep. It almost felt like someone was stroking her head as she went to sleep, someone who smelled a lot like a fresh poppy field…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Main Lobby, Yui and Chinatsu)**

With Yui dressed in a stunning Rivalun cosplay, and Chinatsu in her trademark Mirakurun cosplay, it was no wonder traffic to the Mirakurun booths was increasing by the second. Yui wooed and stunned the attending audience with her looks, but deep inside, she felt like something weird was going on, somewhere else. Chinatsu was more determined than ever to do her best.

_'Previous Comukets haven't proved the best for me…'_ Chinatsu thought as she struck a pose and simultaneously had flashbacks to the truly cringeworthy impression she left on Yui's little sister, _'so this is truly my chance to impress Yui-senpai!'_ and another awe-inducing pose unfurled. Attention was shifting slowly away from the rest of the booths, and towards the Mirakurun cosplay that was unfurling right in front of the Comuket goers. Yui was about to strike her final pose when she looked over and noticed something, a newscast coming LIVE from the western wing of the building…

"Yes good afternoon," the female reporter began, "I'm Taishou Hina, reporting live on the scene of Comuket's western hall where the Mirakurun doujinshi written by a certain young woman named Toshino Kyoko, is sweeping Comuket this year!" the camera panned over to the booth, where a large crowd was gathered. Yui and Chinatsu quickly took notice, finished their routine, and ran over to the TV to see what was going on.

"So it seems she's really making it if she's getting covered by the news…" Chinatsu murmured.

"It's nothing really huge, she's used to it." Yui replied with a quivering grin. Hina's report continued in the background while they continued this conversation until a large roar of applause and cheering could be heard, and the duo turned to see what was going on.

"People of Comuket, this is incredible," Hina began as the camera focused in on a furiously passionate Kyoko and Ayano kissing, LIVE and on camera, "it seems Toshino Kyoko and her unidentified female co-part are in love and sharing a kiss at this very moment! This is truly beautiful…" The camera focused in more on the two, and you could see their faces were relaxed, yet still filled with an inextinguishable love.

Yui bowed her head, and clenched her fist tightly, much to Chinatsu's worry and concern.

"Yui-senpai, are you alright?"

Yui elicited no immediate response, but after a minute or so, she replied, "Hey Chinatsu, we've been in the main lobby about an hour haven't we?"

Chinatsu shook out a demure, "Y-yeah, we have."

Yui's expression darkened, "And we've already been to the eastern booth…"

"S-senpai?" Chinatsu stammered.

"I'd say it's time," Yui began, "to pay the western booth a visit. C'mon…" Yui grasped firmly to Chinatsu's hand, much to her pleasure, making her forget everything else, but Yui still had diabolical thoughts on her mind as she clopped her feet further onward towards the western hall.

_'Kyoko…' _Yui thought to herself, _'You…idiot…'_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_A/N: Well, Yui's a little preoccupied, so I'll handle the outro. So yes, that was Part 1/2 of Comuket! How did you like it? I love increasing the length of these chapters as I go, as it shows progression (to me at least) in my abilities. And I think that you all enjoy them more this way. So yes, review, follow, and all that good stuff! The next chapter shall be out next week! I'll see you all then! Have a great day/month/year of your life, and I'll see you next time!_


	5. Comuket (Part 2), Christmas, School!

_A/N: *_Enters* *Walks up to page* *Inaudible murmuring*

_Hey, Rise! What's that again?_

*Inaudible murmuring*

_Oh, you're sad because you didn't get any page time during the first 4 chapters so you wanted to do the A/N?_

*Head nods*

_Aww, that's cute! You know what? Go ahead, give the audience a summary of what they're gonna see here!_

*Head nods* *Inaudible whispering, inaudible murmuring, [INAUDIBILITY INTENSIFIES]* *Bows*

_That was amazing Rise! Great work!_

*Bows*

_Well, without further ado, let's get on with it shall we?_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Comuket, somewhere between the Main Lobby and the Western Hall, People Present: Yui and Chinatsu)**

December's winds always seem to blow chillier than those of the other 11 months. Maybe it's just the time of year, you know, all that seasonal nonsense. Or maybe it's just the events that happen in December, that make it seem like it is. But for some reason, there was no place icier at the moment, than the heart of a certain black-haired kuudere…

Yui and Chinatsu marched diligently onwards. Right now, Yui's mind seething with conflicting thought after conflicting thought, while all Chinatsu could think was,

_'I'm holding hands with Yui-senpai!' _as her blush and excitement only grew as the duo trudged onward towards the western hall. While Chinatsu maintained her one-track mind, Yui could only think,

_'Why Kyoko…what did I ever do to you?…why must you torment me?…' _as well as a plethora of other thoughts. After a few minutes of practically racing towards the western hall, Chinatsu finally spoke up,

"Hey, Yui-senpai?"

Yui looked down at the pink-haired girl, and simply responded, "What?"

"Um…" Chinatsu began, "are you mad at Kyoko-senpai?"

Yui froze for a solid minute, and just gazed forward. After mulling it over, she replied, "No…I just thought that…we should move from our position…"

"Yui-senpai…?" Chinatsu shakily inquired.

"I mean…" Yui began, "that's what Kyoko told us to do, right?" Yui inquired as she turned to Chinatsu with a glance that suggested slight murder, but also major disappointment.

"Yeah…alright…" Chinatsu replied, for the first time, actually scared of Yui. Yui simply nodded in reply, and dragged Chinatsu onward.

_'Kyoko-senpai…' _Chinatsu thought to herself, _'What happened between you and Yui-senpai?…'_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Western Hall, People Present: Ayano and Kyoko (for now))**

Ayano and Kyoko continued diligently, selling their doujinshi, exchanging lover's looks, and the occasional lover's blush. The majority of which were Ayano's, but some surprisingly came from Kyoko. The crowd who came and went exchanged the occasional 'Congratulations', and 'Kawaii-desu!' when they saw the pair, often resulting in Kyoko throwing her arm tightly around Ayano, and giving her a passionate peck on the cheek, much to Ayano's pleasure. The two continued this routine until Kyoko felt her hair waft, as though a cold breeze somehow hit her from outside. Kyoko's facial expression darkened for a moment; Ayano noticed, and asked Kyoko,

"Is something wrong?"

Kyoko turned to her, and replied, "I just, thought I felt a draft."

Ayano gave her that all-to-familiar look of disdain, and simply responded, "But we're inside, this whole place is air conditioned!"

"Mystery draft!" Kyoko exclaimed, as she handed a customer their copy of the doujinshi. She was greeted by a flick on her nose from Ayano when she turned back to face her.

As soon as that conversation ended, Kyoko caught a glimpse of someone coming towards them, two people in fact. "Hey, Ayano, we've got company!" Kyoko exclaimed, as she grabbed Ayano's shoulders and turned her in the direction of their approaching 'company'.

_'Company? What could that mean?' _Ayano thought to herself. _'Event officials? The police? The news? The rebellion has begun and the rebels have come to seize us? Knowing Kyoko, any of these are highly likely…'_ There was more to that thought train, but it was interrupted by a certain blonde exclaiming,

"Yui-chan! Chinatsu-chan! What's up?!"

_'Oh, it's them…'_ Ayano thought.

"C'mon Ayano, let's go!" Kyoko said to Ayano as she grabbed her hand and dragged her onwards towards their approaching friends.

"Wait, Kyoko, what about the stand?" Ayano inquired. Her question was quickly answered by Kyoko slamming a 'Temporarily Closed' sign on their stand.

_'She would be prepared for something like this…she can be so prepared, so thoughtful sometimes…' _Ayano thought to herself.

"Kyoko-senpai!" Chinatsu exclaimed back.

"Kyoko!" Yui coldly exclaimed.

Kyoko, with Ayano in tow, ran further onward towards the duo. All the while, Yui gazed at the two holding hands, wondering why she couldn't have that kind of happiness. She clenched her fist, but put on a happy face.

"So, Yui," Kyoko began, "what brings you down this way?"

"Uh…" Yui faltered at that question, "Well…"

"Yui?" Ayano inquired. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," Kyoko interjected, "you seem kind of out of it."

"Oh, um," Chinatsu replied, in a panic to find the perfect excuse, "she's just tired from all the work we've been doing today! So she thought she'd come see you guys and work in the Western hall!"

"Oh, is that it?" Kyoko inquired as she looked at Yui.

Yui quivered a little as she responded, "Oh! Uh, yeah! Ehehehe…" Kyoko gave her a look of suspicion, but apparently disregarded it, and just carried on with their conversation.

"Well, I can understand you guys getting tired," Kyoko began, "it is almost the end of the day after all!"

"Wow," Ayano remarked, "time really flies when-"

"You're with the one you love?" Kyoko interjected.

Ayano wailed and blushed a fluorescent red, "Well, I was going to say 'having fun', but I like your answer better…" she said as she twiddled her index fingers.

"Awww! Ayano-chan~!" Kyoko exclaimed as she embraced Ayano tightly, who returned the embrace and buried her face in Kyoko's chest.

Yui was practically fuming at this point; here was her childhood friend, whom she thought of as a complete incompetent 92% of the time, in a deep, meaningful relationship! If Yui had been told this a year or two ago, she would've said you were insane, and just hit you on the back of the head. But I guess she had to believe it now…Of course, that didn't mean she had to accept.

"Well," Kyoko began as she broke embrace with Ayano, "we should start packing up…or we could stay and sell a little bit more." Kyoko cupped her chin in her hands, obviously deep in thought.

_'She's actually thinking?!' _The group all thought in unison.

After a long period of thought, Kyoko came to the conclusion, "Nah, it's not really worth it." Much to the group's surprise. Kyoko produced a walkie talkie from her pocket, and radioed into Akari and Chitose, "Hey, you're good. We're packing up. Close up shop, and get ready to move out! Over."

Akari and Chitose replied, "Roger that! Where should we meet up? Over."

Kyoko replied, "Out front. Pass on the message to Sakurako and Himawari. Over."

Akari and Chitose responded, "Roger that. See ya soon! Over."

Kyoko turned the walkie talkie off and shoved it back into her pocket, all the while receiving weird looks from the group she was in. "What?" She asked everyone.

"When did you get that?" Yui inquired as she pointed at Kyoko's pants pockets.

"Oh, the shorts?" Kyoko replied. "I got them on sale about a week or two ago, I was scared to wear them today, because I didn't know if it would be warm enough inside or not-"

"I MEAN THE WALKIE TALKIE!" Yui interrupted as she flicked Kyoko's nose.

"Ow! I've had the entire time we've been here…" Kyoko whined as she rubbed her nose.

"Then why didn't we get one?" Chinatsu inquired.

"Oh! I only had enough for the booth holders and the Equipment Managers to have one." Kyoko explained. "And I figured since you two were the cosplayers you didn't really need them."

"You knew about this, Ayano?" Yui inquired.

"Yeah," Ayano replied, "but I assumed Kyoko told everyone!"

"Ne, Yui…" Kyoko moaned as she continued to rub her nose, "that flick really hurt…"

"Are you okay?" Ayano inquired as she pulled Kyoko's hands away from her nose.

"What are you-" Kyoko began but was interrupted by Ayano kissing her nose.

"There," Ayano said, her face pure blushing red, "do you feel a little better now?"

"Yeah I do!" Kyoko exclaimed as she swung herself around Ayano with a powerful embrace.

"What's the big deal?" Chinatsu inquired with an unamused face.

"Oh, nothing…" Kyoko said as she gave a sly glance to Ayano, "just that Ayano's the most _AMAZING_ girlfriend ever!"

"Oh, stop…" Ayano replied, her face practically steaming due to the newfound shade of red it had encored.

"Oh, Get a room, you two!" Yui jokingly said, as she shoved Kyoko into Ayano's arms.

"_Maybe we will…_" Kyoko whispered to Ayano, causing her to silently squeal in both horror, unsureness, and a little bit of elation. Thought it was more elation than anything else.

"What was that?" Yui and Chinatsu asked in unison.

"Our little secret!" Kyoko replied with a wink. "Now, c'mon! We need to meet up with everyone!" And with that, the blonde grabbed both Ayano and Yui (with Chinatsu still in tow (don't worry, Chinatsu, your presence hasn't diminished _that _much…)) and rushed onwards towards the front. Of course, they were about halfway there when Ayano brought something up,

"Hey, Kyoko?"

"What is it?" Kyoko replied.

"You remembered to pack up everything at the stand, right?" Ayano inquired. Kyoko's face froze for a second, but only for a second, because the next second, she was gone, screaming,

"HOW COULD I FORGET!" as she ran back towards the western hall.

"She really is hopeless…" Ayano, Yui, and Chinatsu all said in unison, laughing at both Kyoko's foolishness, and the fact that they had all said that in unison.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Front of Comuket, Late Evening, People Present: Ayano, Kyoko, Yui, Chinatsu, Himawari, Sakurako, Chitose, Akari)**

Kyoko let out a pleased, "Aaah~" as she stretched her arms behind her head and then stated,

"Another successful Comuket!"

The rest of the crew simultaneously glared and guilted Kyoko into then saying,

"Oh yeah; thanks _SO _much to you guys! I couldn't have done it without you!"

The crew exchanged looks, and then replied, "You're welcome!" in unison.

"I actually thought it was kind of fun!" Sakurako stated, "I got to work with Himawari, so it was fine!"

Himawari blushed before replying, "And I had nothing else to do on a lazy weekend like this, so I figured why not?" Sakurako flicked the back of Himawari's head, and gave her a look of disdain. "What was that for?!"

"You were supposed to say that you were happy that got to spend the day with me!" Sakurako whined. Himawari pressed her finger against Sakurako's lips. "I don't have to say that, you should already know that."

Sakurako blushed deeply, and then embraced Himawari, "I'm sorry, I'm an idiot…"

"Shhh~" Himawari replied. "If you're an idiot, then you're my idiot." And the two just held each other while the rest of the crew injected their opinions.

"I only did this because I got a chance to be with Yui-senpai for a day!" Chinatsu bluntly stated as she moved towards Yui, who coldly stiffened up.

"You would've dragged me into this either way." Yui stated with a shrug.

"I came because I was invited." Akari stated, but no one seemed to notice.

"I came along because I wanted to help you guys!" Chitose said with a smile.

"A-and I came because…" Ayano stuttered, "well…it's what a good girlfriend should do, right?" The answer to that question was a warm embrace, and a heartfelt kiss from Kyoko. You could almost feel the romantic music swelling in the background. Actually, you _could_ hear the romantic music swelling. Ayano and Kyoko broke their kiss, Himawari and Sakurako broke their embrace, and the rest of the crew just stared in the direction of the music. It was coming from a random person in the background,

"Oh, sorry!" The random girl said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and began her conversation, "Hello?" and awkwardly walked away.

"Well, that was…" Kyoko began.

"Awk~ward~" the rest of the crew harmonically sang.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

An hour or two of backbreaking labor later (packing up the stand materials and Kyoko's plunder of Mirakurun goods, which seemed to exceed the the amount of stand materials they had originally brought…) the crew had everything set and ready to go. They said their collective goodbyes, and everyone boarded the train back. Well, almost everyone. Kyoko held Ayano back, telling her to keep her luggage and everything.

_"I have some things I have to set up, but meet me in downtown in the park, ok?"_

Those words resonated in Ayano's head, as she sat on a lonely park bench as snow fell. She pulled her scarf down momentarily to blow a puff of warm air from her mouth into her already mittened hands, and then took a sweep of her surroundings. Millions of things were racing through her mind right now, but one thing she was sure of, was that whatever Kyoko had 'Specially planned' for the two, it was something extremely special. Normally, Kyoko had everything prepared prior to a date:

An idea of where they wanted to go

An idea of what they were going to do

And

And idea of when they were going to get back

But something about this time was different. Kyoko seemed like she was deliberately going out of her way to hide something from Ayano, something big.

_'What could it be?'_ Ayano thought to herself. With Kyoko, as was always, the possibilities were infinite. It could be anything from a romantic getaway, to a WWII fighter jet battle with the Red Baron, to a steamy night in their own personal hotel room; _'_

_Well, that last one might not be so bad…'_ Ayano lamented to herself, but quickly snapped out of it, and returned to her diligent scan of her surroundings.

_'What's the point? She'll show up, when she'll show up!' _Ayano told herself as she kicked back on her bench. _'No worries-' _before Ayano could complete that sentence she took a good look around, after she was sure no one was around, she finished, _'Nolan North!' _and almost immediately was greeted by what seemed to be an extremely distant

"PFFFF-!" of laughter.

_'Every time…'_ Ayano sighed to herself.

Well seconds turned to minutes, minutes to what seemed like hours, and so on and so forth until Ayano realized that the hours she had been waiting for had only been roughly 20 minutes; give or take. Ayano threw her hands up in frustration, letting them fall down and cup her face in the process as she let out a stifled,

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!" catching the attention of a park goer or two, but nothing that would raise a ruckus.

_'What's making me feel this way?!' _Ayano thought to herself, _'Am I really THAT hopeless of a romantic that I'm pining for her even though she promised to be back? This girl will be the death of me, I swear…but, it's kind of nice…'_ Ayano lamented, _'Finally having someone I've loved for years on end, finally realize their own feelings back, and having a relationship where I can do stuff like this. Yearn for her…Long to have her by my side…and…Love her…' _Then Ayano thought something to herself, _'How many times have I told her I love her?'_ Ayano held on that one for a moment, and then she had an even more disturbing thought, _'How many times have I told her I love her first, and been the first one to say it?'_ And more fuel for the dark cloud that was 'Doubt' entered Ayano's mind, as her thoughts swarmed around these questions.

_'I've meant it each time, from the bottom of my heart…but does she know that?' _Ayano's thoughts ensued, _'Well of course she knows it, but, moreover, does she know how heartfelt it is? And how can I make it more prominent that I would give everything and more up for her? On all of our dates, and all of the times I've said 'I love you', we both knew it was heartfelt, but I want her to know the true magnitude of my love. Hmm…' _Suddenly, a romantic master plot formed in Ayano's mind, the same kind from way back when, when she was plotting to confess to Kyoko. After another 10 minutes of scheming, theorizing, more waiting, plotting, failing at plotting, taking said failed plots and proceeding to crumple them up in an oh-so stereotypical manner and toss them into the nearby trash can, Ayano came up with her perfect romantic storm.

_'Yeah, this'll be perfect!'_ Ayano schemed, _'Now I just have to wait for-' _Ayano's thought train was interrupted by a familiar voice yelling,

"AY~A~NO~!"

Ayano looked to her right to see Kyoko, the energetic blonde she is, in her lovely light green jacket dashing through the snow (not in a one-horse open sleigh), with an enormous smile on her face, waving at Ayano.

"KYOKO!" Ayano exclaimed as she waved back and got up off her bench.

_'Time to get this plan going…'_ Ayano thought to herself. Ayano rushed onwards towards Kyoko, again, you could practically hear the romantic music swelling, and this time it wasn't some random girl's ringtone. As the two got closer and closer, and the tension swelled, Ayano and Kyoko realized something just a second or two too late; a small sign that said, 'CAUTION: SIDEWALK MAY BE ICY'. The two gained a look of horror as they realized their feet were beginning to slip and slide, and they were on a collision course directly for each other. Quickly Kyoko took evasive maneuvers and pirouetted out of Ayano's way, then came to a nice sharp halt. The judges off to the side gave a perfect 10/10. Ayano wasn't so fortunate; upon Kyoko's pirouette, she had nothing to cushion the blow of her impact except for the snow and the ground. As Kyoko helped Ayano up out of the snow, she held up a sign that read '2/10' in bold red numbers. Ayano promptly took this sign and whacked Kyoko on the back of the head with it.

"What was that for?!" Kyoko moaned as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Part of it was for making me land in the snow," Ayano replied with a stern demeanor, "but…"

"But what?-" Kyoko began as she took her hands off the back of her head and was instantly cradled in Ayano's warm embrace.

"The other part was for making me wait so long…" Ayano said into Kyoko's shoulder. "I…I missed you a lot."

Kyoko wrapped her arms around Ayano's waist, and replied, "I missed you too. I hate it when we're apart, I wish that we-"

"Could always be together no matter what." Ayano said in unison with Kyoko. The two locked eyes upon the completion of that sentence, and just held each other there for a minute.

"Ayano," Kyoko said.

"Yeah?" Ayano replied, her eyes tentatively clinging to Kyoko's.

"I never realized," Kyoko began, "you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen."

"Oh, please." Ayano replied with a blush, "My eyes pale in comparison to yours. They're the loveliest shade of aquamarine I've ever seen."

"Really?" Kyoko inquired.

"C'mon, I can't lie to you." Ayano replied.

Kyoko's reply was made in the form of a pair of cherry-sweet lips, locking with a certain tsundere's. The two held that chilly December's evening kiss for minutes on end, not caring about who saw or what they would think. Because when you feel true love, everyone else just disappears. When they finally broke their kiss, which had become a play date for their tongues, Kyoko looked at her watch, and she stated,

"Hey, we'd better get going!" and with that Kyoko grabbed Ayano's hand, locked fingers with her, and the two rushed off downtown.

"Huh? Where?" Ayano inquired as she attempted to keep pace with Kyoko.

"Our date, silly!" Kyoko replied, as the two made their way further downtown, faces passing, and Ayano not knowing where they were bound ("MUST YOU MAKE THESE TERRIBLE CONTEXTUAL JOKES!" _Just live with it Ayano, there's not a whole lot you can do! _"God, someone get this guy a new joke writer!")

"W-wait! Where are we going?!" Ayano inquired as she stumbled and fumbled to keep up with Kyoko, almost falling at one point.

"You'll see!" Kyoko exclaimed as she made a sharp right turn around a street corner, knocking Ayano into a random holiday shopper.

"Hey! You should be more careful!" Ayano reprimanded, but Kyoko didn't seem to notice. Ayano glanced at the two's intertwined hands, and thought,

_'Well, at least the scenery's nice to look at while we run…'_ She looked around at the city, and how it had undergone a total metamorphosis for the holiday season. People seemed in a generally cheerier mood for the season, and the decorations were extravagant, but just quaint enough. Store fronts were decorated with banners that read either 'Merry Christmas' or 'Happy Holidays', and some had other smaller banners that all generally read, 'HOLIDAY SALE: _% OFF EVERYTHING". Occasionally the duo passed a bell-ringer or two who would wave a 'Happy Holidays' to the people who passed by. The light snowfall was a nice esthetic feature as well. It seemed to place everything in a cheery and light mood for the holidays.

_'That's right,' _thought Ayano, _'Christmas isn't that far off…'_ Instantly Ayano's heart jumped into her throat, and was at the same moment swallowed back down, _'WHAT AM I GONNA GET KYOKO FOR CHRISTMAS!?' _Ayano had been so distracted by the goings on of Comuket and the fact that she was actually dating Kyoko in the first place, that she had lost sight of what time of year it was in the first place. All of the worry that Ayano had felt back at the park returned with a vengeance, but they were a little different now; they were feelings of worry, remorse, and true fear. Ayano began to drag herself down further and further, thinking,

_'What a pitiful excuse for a girlfriend I am…'_ Ayano thought she felt a tear stream down her cheek, but if it was there, she quickly wiped it away, _'I can remember a Christmas gift for everyone except for the person I love?…Am I even worth her time at this rate?…Am I-'_

"Hey!" Kyoko exclaimed as she bobbed and weaved through shoppers and children alike.

"Wh-what?" Ayano inquired as she frantically wiped at her eyes with her free hand.

"Don't worry," Kyoko began as she made a sharp dash through the local farmer's market, "whatever happens, I'm fine as long as I have you." And with that she turned to Ayano and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I-I wasn't worried about anything!" Ayano stammered as she dodged a kicked up tomato.

"Sure you weren't…" Kyoko slyly said as she flashed a grin like a weasel.

Ayano looked left and right rapidly as her blush increased with each time her eyes changed direction. "Well…" she began, "if I was…I'm not anymore thanks to that."

"Well that's why I'm the seme and you're the uke." Kyoko replied.

"Wait, how come I'm the-" There would've been more to that sentence, but it got cut short by Ayano's face meeting Kyoko's back as she exclaimed,

"We're here~!"

Ayano looked around at where they were, a bus stop. "YOU DRAGGED ME THROUGH ALL THAT FOR A BUS STOP!?" Ayano exclaimed.

"Calm down," Kyoko reassured as she wrapped her arm around Ayano's shoulder, "this isn't where our date is. You can't have a picnic at a bus stop!"

"Eh? Picnic?" Ayano inquired.

"Yep!" Kyoko dutifully replied.

"But, it's the middle of winter," Ayano began, "where could we possibly go-" she was cut short by the squeal of the bus's breaks as it came to a halt. The doors swung open and Kyoko dragged Ayano on once again. They sat in the far back of the bus, engaged in idle chitchat, all while Ayano marveled over the fact that Kyoko had planned a picnic in the dead of winter. _'Where,'_ Ayano thought to herself, _'where on this Earth could Kyoko have found that's suitable to have a picnic at? Wait,' _ Ayano glanced at Kyoko who was in the middle of a sentence, but Ayano was too deep in thought to listen to what Kyoko was saying, _'this is Kyoko we're talking about here…it doesn't have to be suitable…for all I know, she could be dragging me to some god-forsaken place in the middle of nowhere, and when we get there, she'll say something like,_

_"Ah~ isn't it lovely here?" with that dopey smile on her face. But I just can't resist that smile…*sigh*…but…she has proven herself dramatically romantic whenever she sets up a date…'_ Ayano thought back to all the times when Kyoko had set up the date for them, (They had found it a custom to take turns setting up the dates they went on) and Ayano _every single time_ found herself second guessing Kyoko's ability to be romantic, and herself as girlfriend. Ayano was always thinking how she didn't deserve Kyoko, and how someone amazing as her was squandering her time with someone like Ayano, who was always closet-second-guessing everything, had the tendency to be awkward every now and again, and was just plain unworthy. Ayano lamented over these thoughts for the entire bus ride, only capable of giving Kyoko half-assed answers to her questions and replied to her statements. After a roughly half hour ride out of town, on the freeway, and into the mountainous areas, the couple finally arrived at their destination. When they arrived outside of a lodge resort, Kyoko grabbed Ayano's hand again, mid-conversation, and pulled her off the bus, out into the cold. Ayano gazed onwards at the lodge.

"Let me explain," Kyoko began as she walked Ayano towards the lodge, "this place is a winter resort for people who wanter weather winter's harsh weather, whether or not they have a lot of money doesn't matter, as it's reasonably priced, and doesn't discriminate!" Ayano lamented in her head how Kyoko had just used the word 'weather' and its homonym in all forms in that last sentence as Kyoko continued, "And so, I figured we could stay here overnight, then head back home tomorrow morning!"

Ayano blushed at the thought of it, an overnight stay with Kyoko. Barring the times she had slept over at Yui's with Kyoko, the overnighter they'd had at the Amusement Club clubhouse a year or two ago, and the time on the train on the way up here, Ayano had never really spent a night with Kyoko. And certainly not one alone. So this experience was entirely foreign, but maybe that wasn't so bad.

"Ok, wait." Ayano interjected as they walked into the doors of the lodge, instantly feeling the relaxing heat.

"What?" Kyoko inquired.

"You still haven't' explained how the picnic fits into all of this." Ayano replied.

"Ah!" Kyoko replied, "That's simple, but I think it'd be better to show it to you instead!"

"There you go being mysterious again…" Ayano moaned.

"Ah, but isn't my unpredictability what makes me so amazing?" Kyoko retorted as she did a sassy hair flip with her free hand.

Ayano gave a look of disdain back that was accompanied by a blush, and replied, "Well, of course."

"Aww~ thanks Ayano!" Kyoko sang as she gave Ayano a warm embrace. "Listen, I have to take care of our registration, but it'll only take a minute, ok?"

"Alright," Ayano replied, "I'll just go wait over in the lobby, ok?"

"Alright!" Kyoko replied as she began to walk towards the reception desk.

"Wait-" Ayano began. Kyoko turned around to face Ayano. "I-I'll miss you…" Ayano said with a wild blush going rampant on her face that seemed to intensify with each word she said in that sentence.

Kyoko incurred a blush as well, and she replied, "I'll miss you too." with a smile larger than Ayano had ever seen before.

"I love you!" Ayano called to Kyoko as she walked towards the lobby.

"I love you too!" Kyoko called back as she reached the receptionist's desk.

Ayano was on cloud nine from there on in. She had just made the first move in her master plot; telling Kyoko that she loved her first before she had the chance to in a conversation. Ayano cheerfully gloated a little to herself while she gazed around the lobby as she hummed a little tune. The lobby itself was a large spacious thing; it was solid wood flooring, furnished with wood furniture, except for the couches which were leather. It was open such that there was balcony on the second floor that you could look over and see down into the it. There was a little restaurant there, and it's back faced the mountain in the background, and was glassed over so that you could see the mountain, and a path that appeared to lead up to the mountain. There were a few other people in the lobby, but not many. A few girls over at a table outside of the restaurant, a couple (2 girls) laying together on one of the couches that faced the mountain on their laptop, looking at cute vacation pictures of each other, or what Ayano could only assume were vacation pictures as they were all set at a beach somewhere, and giggling wildly. The whole place also had an interesting smell to it as well; something like sandalwood incense and something else Ayano just couldn't quite discern. Was it oak wood? No… Ash wood maybe? No… It had a sweet essence to it, almost like roses, Ayano's favorite flower. Ayano gazed out of the glass back at the mountain and thought about roses, for no apparent reason. For some reason, the white snow made Ayano think of Ayano's favorite kind of roses; white roses. For some reason, they had always seemed more pure than red ones. White is an untampered with color, something with no changes to it that is perfect in it's hue, shade, and appearance. It hasn't been overexposed, nor has it been underexposed; Ayano instantly thought back on her childhood, and why she was so infatuated with white roses in the first place.

_'Yeah…I remember…that day…'_ Ayano thought to herself_._

[FLASHBACK]

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Ayano's Birthday, Ayano's 1st Grade Classroom, Age: 7)**

Ayano sat alone in the corner of the room as the rest of the kids played on, paying her no mind. Ayano had worn her favorite outfit too, a purple dress with a white scrunchee in her ponytail that was getting quite long. She watched everyone pass her by as they pursued their own activities; playing with clay, paddle balls, drawing, and having fun, while she sat there in the corner, alone, left with only her thoughts and pain.

_'How could they forget?'_ Ayano thought to herself, _'Everyone always remembered in Kindergarten, why should it make any difference if it's grade school now? I guess Mommy was right. People do change, and you can't find anyone that you can be true to anymore!'_ Ayano sulked as she slammed her head against her desk, but no one seemed to notice. Then as she lifted her head up, she saw something in her face; a white rose. Holding it, was a blonde girl in girls' shorts and a button-up blue shirt.

"Here!" she said as she pushed the white rose towards Ayano.

"B-but why?" Ayano replied with a small blush.

"Well, it's your birthday, silly!" the blonde girl replied.

Ayano was flushed with an amazing feeling; someone had remembered. And not only had someone remembered, but they took the time to get her a birthday gift. And, on the plus side, this girl was really cute too. "Y-y-you remembered?" Ayano stammered.

"Of course!" the blonde girl replied with a thumbs up pose, "I couldn't forget your birthday! What kind of a person would I be if I did that?"

"But-what makes me special?" Ayano inquired as she mired at the rose.

"Well," the blonde girl began as she put her hands behind her back, "I'm not sure…something about you makes it seem like you need someone in your life. Like you're lonely…I don't know why though, you're so cute!"

Ayano's face immediately flushed with red, as she stammered all sorts of illegible nonsense that no one, but that didn't matter to this blonde. She just sat back and giggled at Ayano's outburst.

"Wh-what's so funny?!" Ayano exclaimed, her face an entirely new shade of red.

"You're so cute when you're flustered like that!" The blonde replied, her voice wrought with giggling, but just the right amount, to signify that her comment was meant to be taken seriously.

This situation was entirely new to Ayano, someone thought she was cute? And another girl no less!? This was unheard-of in Ayano's lifetime. "W-well, I think you're outfit looks great on you!" Ayano replied, somewhat sharply.

"Aww~ thanks!" The blonde replied. "I think you and I are going to be great friends!" She said with a broad smile.

"F-friends?" Ayano stammered. And like that she was greeted with a firm embrace from her new blonde companion.

"Maybe someday, a little more than that…" The blonde whispered into Ayano's ear, and then trailed off.

"EEEHHH?!" Ayano squealed. Whatever Ayano was about to say, she was interrupted by a black-haired girl, who was standing next to a red-haired girl, who called her for her new friend.

"Oy! Kyoko!" The black-haired girl called.

"I'll be there in a second, Yui!" the blonde called back.

"Kyoko?" Ayano said to the blonde.

"Yep!" Kyoko replied as she broke the hug and assumed a pose, "Toshino Kyoko! But you can just call me Kyoko, got it Ayano-chan?"

"Y-yeah…I got it…" Ayano distantly replied.

"Good!" Kyoko replied. "I have to go see my other friends now, but I'll talk to you later!" and with that Kyoko got up and walked towards Yui.

"Kyoko…" Ayano lamented to herself, "what a beautiful name…"

That day, Ayano thought to herself, _'Well, maybe Mommy was wrong…there are still people that you can be true to…' _she stared at the white rose, _'and some of them…might just steal your heart…'_

[END FLASHBACK]

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Present Day)**

_'And that was the day…'_ Ayano thought to herself, _'the day when she truly captured my heart…' _Ayano's thought train was derailed by Kyoko's voice calling her name,

"AYANO~!"

Ayano quickly swiveled around and replied, "KYOKO-eh?" Ayano quizzically looked at Kyoko, who was dressed in full hiking apparel, complete with a comfy green parka, black boots, white snow pants, goggles, white mittens, and a fur-lined hat. She took off her goggles, twirled around, struck a thumbs-up pose, marveled at the amount of commas used in the previous few lines of descriptive dialogue, and then inquired,

"Well, what do you think?"

Ayano glared blankly at Kyoko for a minute, did a double take to ensure this was life, and then exclaimed, "WHY ARE YOU DRESSED LIKE THAT?!"

"Oh don't worry," Kyoko began as she produced a duffel bag from behind her, "our luggage is on our way up to our room, and I got you a set of hiking clothes as well!" she threw the duffel bag at Ayano, who unzipped it and examined its contents. Everything that Kyoko was wearing was there, except in pink and blue.

"You still haven't explained to me why we need this…" Ayano groaned as she began to put her equipment on.

"We're going hiking," Kyoko explained as she pointed towards the mountain, "to a specific place on that mountain!"

"What?!" Ayano exclaimed, nearly punching a hole through her jacket as she put her arm in the arm hole. "Are you crazy?! It's the dead of winter!"

"That's what makes it better!" Kyoko replied.

Ayano heaved a sigh of remorse, "Why do I keep this up sometimes, I wonder…" she groaned as she tied her boots.

"Because you love me!" Kyoko retorted.

"Damn you and your adorability…" Ayano jokingly retorted back. The two giggled as they continued their preparations. The hike was a simple route; it was blatantly marked so that even an idiot could follow it, (better, even Kyoko could follow it) and the wind had somewhat calmed down, so that they weren't entirely chilly on their trek up to wherever Kyoko was dragging Ayano as she still hadn't said a single thing about the destination of their picnic. There wasn't much room for conversation as wherever Kyoko was destined, she was rip roaring and ready to go and get there as soon as possible. And what little wind there was whistled enough to garble anything that Ayano would've tried to have said, so he just held back on the commentary and pondered all the possible options of where she might end up at the end of the trek. Though they seemed to be progressively deviating form the mountainous area, and leaning more towards the neighboring forest area as the trek continued. After roughly 15 minutes Kyoko proudly declared,

"We made it!"

"What?!" Ayano called, as she ran closer to Kyoko, who repeated,

"I said, we made it! Look!" As Kyoko pointed forwards. Ayano looked and she couldn't believe her eyes; on a mountainous trail, in a god-forsaken forest, Kyoko had managed to find a small clearing that overlooked the expanse of the mountain area, along with the lodge and the road that led back towards the freeway. While the snow lightly fell everywhere else, there was absolutely no snow at all, it wasn't even that cold. Combine all that with the fact that the sun was setting, and you had quite possibly the most romantic scenario that the girls had ever seen. Kyoko plopped down her picnic basket, produced a blanket from it, and proceeded to unravel it and lay it out.

"How is this possible?" Ayano inquired as slipped off her coat and sat down gingerly on the picnic blanket.

"Well, I must confess," Kyoko admitted as she began to lay out the food, "this wasn't my original plan."

"What?" Ayano inquired, her astonishment not preventing her from beginning to fill her plate with some of the delicacies Kyoko had prepared, such as daikon, taro, oden, tonkatsu, and more. How much trouble had this girl gone to planning this picnic?

"You see," Kyoko began as she too began to fill her plate, "I was originally going to take you up to a gazebo that's a little further near the top, but I saw this forest, and decided to let nature take us where it wanted to take us. Lo and behold, we've ended up here."

"So, you just led us on a half-assed quest into the woods," Ayano griped, "without having a set destination, and just basically hoping we ended up somewhere good?!"

"Pretty much!" Kyoko cheerily replied between bites.

"I was right," Ayano jokingly concluded, "you _are _hopeless…"

"Then that would make two of us!" Kyoko retorted as she poked Ayano with her chopsticks. "Hey, do you think I could have your taro? I'm sorry, I know I made 2 of them, one for each of us, but they're just _so delicious_."

"Of course!" Ayano cheerily replied, "But can we trade?"

"Sure! What do you want?" Kyoko inquired.

"Hmm..your daikon." Ayano replied, instantly having déjà vu of the trip they took when they were 2nd years to Kyoto, when Ayano lost a valuable opportunity to give an indirect kiss to Kyoko via feeding her taro. Kyoko did exactly as predicted, picked up the daikon with her chopsticks and offering it to Ayano.

"C'mon, say Aaah~" Kyoko said as she held the daikon tentatively in front of Ayano. Although the two had directly kissed plenty of times, there was something about an indirect kiss that got Ayano going; her heart rate climbing, her blood flowing, and her mind going crazy. And whatever was served, tasted at least 100 times better than normal. One thing was for sure, Ayano was not missing this opportunity. This time, Ayano wanted to make sure that feeling was conveyed back in the exact same way she felt it. Before anyone could do anything, she immediately went for the taro on her plate, and dangled it in front of Kyoko, just as tentatively as she did to her.

"Okay, your turn to say 'Aaah~'" Ayano devilishly, yet romantically, said, much to Kyoko's pleasure. She let out a proud, "Aaah~" and was rewarded with the taro.

_'Okay, now the real test,' _Ayano thought to herself, _'by now my plan is just entirely blown out of the water thanks to her ditzy nature, so I have to rely on this.' _She carefully watched Kyoko's face, to see if she could read it, but got absolutely nowhere; she was going to have to read Kyoko's feelings based on actions.

_'Okay, you'll be fine, just don't second gu-'_ Ayano began to think but was interrupted by the sudden embrace of Kyoko's lips on hers. She felt like she could taste the taro on her lips, and especially on her tongue when that part of the kiss came.

When the two broke the kiss to catch their breath, Kyoko said, "I'd feel guilty if I kept all that pleasure bottled up, so I figured I should let it out."

"Maybe I should try that more often…" Ayano thought out loud.

"You really should!" Kyoko replied.

"Yeah…hey! That was supposed to be private," Ayano chastised, "how did you hear it?!"

"You were thinking out loud again…" Kyoko replied blankly.

"I really have to stop doing that…" Ayano lamented.

"I don't think so," Kyoko replied, as she delicately wrapped her arms around Ayano, and moved them slowly downwards, "it gives us some great ideas…" she cheekily stated.

Ayano was beyond blushing at this point, and she lay in wait of whatever Kyoko was going to do next. Much to her surprise, she reached into her pocket, and produced a small box. It was only about the size of Kyoko's hand when balled into a fist, and it had a white bow on top.

"Here, Merry Christmas!" Kyoko exclaimed with joy. Ayano took the box and opened it up, inside was a velvet case; a jewelers velvet case. Ayano eagerly opened up the little box and found a silver ring, encrusted with a garnet next to an aquamarine on the top. Ayano almost flew over the top with elation and blush.

"Is this a-" Ayano began and Kyoko swiftly responded,

"Yep, a promise ring." Kyoko lifted up her left hand to reveal that she was wearing the other ring. "I've been hiding this thing underneath my mitten ever since we got to the lodge, and if you'll look closely, the aquamarine and garnet are in corresponding places on the rings, so when we hold hands, whether you look at us from the back or the front, the aquamarine and garnet will always be in the same place. Just like us."

"No matter how you look at it…" Ayano said as she put the ring on her right hand, "We'll always be together."

"Exactly!" Kyoko stated with a smile. Ayano pleasantly smiled back, and the two leaned into a beautifully passionate kiss (combination tongue wrestling match).

"Kyoko," Ayano said when the two paused to catch their breath, "I'm sorry…"

"For what?" Kyoko inquired as she stroked Ayano's hair and pushed her bangs out of her eyes.

"I-I forgot your Christmas gift!" Ayano exclaimed, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, "We got caught up with our dates, and I meant to do it last week, but I forgot when we were on our date and-" Kyoko immediately held Ayano tightly, burying Ayano's head in her chest.

"Don't be sorry," Kyoko comfortingly said, "be happy. Because being with you this year is already the greatest possible gift I could ever get. Just getting to spend Christmas with you, is enough for me; but what would ruin the gift, would be you being sad. I love you too much to stand to see you sad."

"And I love you too much," Ayano replied, somewhat muffled due to her still having her face buried in Kyoko's chest, "to see you sad."

"Look," Kyoko replied, "as long as we have each other, there'll be no problems. Alright?" Kyoko lifted Ayano's face up using her index finger to stroke upwards from the base of Ayano's neck to the tip of her chin, causing the two to lock eyes yet again.

"Alright." Ayano replied, "I love you, and I don't tell you nearly enough, but I promise that I will always tell you I love you; every time I see you, and every time I don't. At least once a day, at least! I want you to know that I'll always love you to-"

"the ends of the earth and back." Kyoko said in unison with Ayano.

"You feel the same way?" Ayano inquired.

"If I didn't, I would be dating you." Kyoko giggled.

Ayano blushed, "I love you."

"I love you too," Kyoko replied, leaning in for another kiss, "I always have, and I always will." She squeezed out before the two locked mouths and their steamy romance unfurled.

Half an hour or so later, the two found themselves back at the lodge, comfortably in their room, relaxing on their bed. Ayano was reading the final volume of the manga she had been wanting to finish, and Kyoko was gazing out the window aimlessly.

After about 7 minutes of her doing that, Ayano cracked and said, "Okay, I'll bite, what is it?"

"Well," Kyoko replied as she laid back, "I feel like I'm forgetting something…"

"Well, it'll come to you sooner or-" Ayano began but was interrupted by a suddenly enlightened Kyoko exclaiming,

"OH THAT'S IT!"

"Hey, keep it down!" Ayano reprimanded, "Do you want to wake up the neighbors downstairs?"

"Okay fine…" Kyoko moaned, "What I was going to say was, you're invited to the Christmas bash at Yui's!"

"Christmas. Bash?" Ayano inquired with a quizzical look riddling her face.

"Yeah, everyone's going!" Kyoko cheerily exclaimed. "Chitose, Chizuru, Sakurako, Himawari, and everyone from the Amusement Club! So please say you'll go, huh?"

Ayano heaved a heavy sigh, "I guess I have no choice…"

Kyoko giggled, and wrapped her arms around Ayano, then began to gingerly kiss her on her neck. "My cute little tsundere…" she seductively said as her kisses moved progressively lower and lower. That night, the carolers weren't the only thing that sang with delight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(December 25th, Yui's House, People Present: Student Council, Amusement Club)**

Yui's main living room, normally bland and merely decorated with only Yui's computer, her bookshelf, her PS3, and a little table in the center, was all out this year. From the ceiling hung ornaments, hand made by Yui and Chinatsu the night before, in the center of the room instead of the table, was a proud, prominent Christmas tree, decorated with ornaments and presents all around. There were two or three tables set up with food, drinks, and Kyoko's infamous pink box that for some reason or another, still had 'TRUTH OR DARE' written on it. Everyone was up to their usual antics, Ayano and Kyoko were cuddling in the corner (Kyoko was dressed in her hallmark Christmas get-up, while Ayano was dressed more modestly in a simple holiday sweater and jeans), gazing onwards at the Christmas tree, Himawari and Sakurako were arguing over who was going to eat what (They wore outfits that complimented each other but they wrote it off as coincidence), and Yui was frantically trying to control the Ikeda twins' fantasies while still setting up places for everyone to sit (Yui was dressed in her average t-shirt and jeans, while the Ikeda twins wore matching outfits). After a hectic hour or so of everyone exchanging chitchat, eating, and fantasizing, the group gathered up in the center of the room.

"Alright!" Kyoko declared, "Time to open presents!"

"Jeez, don't sugar coat it…" Ayano chastised.

"Oh, don't act like you weren't anxious Ayano," Kyoko tauntingly said as she wrapped her arm around Ayano, "I saw you gazing at your gift when we were sitting over in the corner!"

Ayano's face instantly was flushed with red, "I-I don't know what you're talking about…" Ayano demurely said.

"Oh, Ayano…" Kyoko delicately said as she gazed into Ayano's eyes. They both slowly moved in for a kiss, but a cough from Yui brought them both back to reality.

"Uh…" Chinatsu awkwardly said, "so…presents!"

"Ah! Yes!" Kyoko replied. "Thanks to my expert Secret Santa program," Kyoko said caught in self-indulgence, "everyone should have one gift each!"

"Yeah, expert…" Yui mumbled to herself.

Ayano giggled at Kyoko's antics, and playfully messed with her hair, eliciting a broad smile from her. "Well, let's get it on with!" Ayano declared.

"Ok, who's going first!?" Kyoko exclaimed. No one really took the initiative to start, so, Kyoko had to take drastic measures. "Ok, Akari! You first" she exclaimed as she pointed to Akari.

Akari panicked before she said, "Okay, so who was my Secret Santa!?" Everyone looked at each other with quizzical looks, each one more riddled than the other.

"You know, there was an odd number of people…" Chinatsu sighed. "Maybe…no one got your number!"

Akari's look became one of true horror, and she just collapsed into a ball, as "Akarin~" echoed, and she became invisible (as if she wasn't already).

"Well, let's get it going! Clockwise!" Kyoko declared. "Chitose, you're next!"

Chitose giggled a little bit, then went inquired, "So, who's my Secret Santa?"

Himawari demurely spoke up, and said, "That would be me!"

Chitose clapped as Himawari went over to the tree and picked out Chitose's gift, then handed it to her. Chitose tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box that was inside. Inside the box, tissues. Packets on packets of tissues! Chitose turned to Himawari, "Thank you so much Furutani-san!"

"Well," Himawari began, "I figured you and Chizuru could make good use out of these."

"I'm not sure I catch your drift…" Chizuru said delicately, completely oblivious to the drool that was streaming down her face. Himawari awkwardly chuckled and then sat back down.

"Okay, Sakurako, you're next!" Kyoko exclaimed.

Sakurako inquired who her Secret Santa was, and Chitose got up and presented her with her gift. Sakurako hastily unwrapped it, and inside was a necklace case. But inside the necklace case, were two necklaces; matching ones. "Matching necklaces?" Sakurako inquired.

"I think you know who the other one goes to…" Chitose slyly said as she nodded her head towards Himawari, who blushed more than ever before in her life. Sakurako nodded, then gingerly placed the necklace on Himawari. Himawari obliged, and did the same with the other necklace. They had a broken ornament at the end of each necklace, and when the two combined, the ornament spelled, _'Sakurako x Himawari'_. Sakurako and Himawari united the ornaments, and shared a passionate kiss. While that unfurled, the gift giving continued.

Sakurako ended up being Chizuru's Secret Santa, giving her tissues as well. Yui ended up giving to Chinatsu, she gave her a hand made scarf and mittens, causing a copious amount of 'Aww'-ing from to erupt from Chinatsu, as well as a lot of 'I love you, Yui-senpai!'s. Yui received from Chitose, pickled banana peppers, especially pickled with all of Chitose's heart. After letting the place air out a bit, Yui placed those in the kitchen. Chinatsu ended up, sadly with Himawari, and gave her a hand-made Christmas card. One round of smelling salts later, Himawari recovered from the shock enough to shove the card away and make an excuse for the fainting. Chizuru reluctantly gave a gift card to Chinatsu, as she was at a loss this time of year, and Chinatsu was someone especially difficult to shop for, though Chizuru was pretty sure who that gift card was going to be spent on…

After the gift giving was all said and done, Himawari looked over to Ayano and Kyoko, who were playing with each other's hair, blissfully unaware of the world around them, and said, "Hey, Kyoko, Sugiura-senpai…"

The two looked over to Himawari, "Yes?" they said in unison.

"Well," Himawari began, "you two didn't give or receive anything, what's going on here?"

The couple giggled at Himawari and each other. "Well, you see," Ayano began as she held up her right hand and displayed the promise ring, "Kyoko already gave me her gift."

"And Ayano gave me her gift a long time ago…" Kyoko said as she gazed lovingly at Ayano. The two shared a kiss, but were interrupted by Yui who sprung to her feet and said in a stern voice,

"Hey, Ayano, can you come help me in the kitchen? I need help cleaning the dishes."

Ayano looked at Yui, puzzled; she, nor anyone here had ever seen this side of Yui, this stern, curt, and cold side of her. Ayano reluctantly agreed, and then remembered to tell Kyoko she would miss her, and that she loved her. Kyoko replied with the same, and then the group resumed their talking, while Ayano and Yui entered the kitchen. Yui locked the door behind them.

"What was that for?" Ayano inquired as she began to wash dishes.

"What?" Yui cluelessly inquired as she dried a plate Ayano handed her.

"Don't give me that," Ayano sternly replied, "that little outburst in the middle of Kyoko and I's kiss. That was for a reason, and you know it, what's going on here?"

Yui stopped mid-dry, then sharply turned her head to Ayano, locking eyes with her, and simply replying, "I came first…not you…why do you deserve true happiness?"

"What?" Ayano inquired. "I'm lost here, what are you trying to say?"

"You can't contain her…" Yui replied, obviously spaced out, but still autonomously drying dishes that she was being handed. "Without dedication…to what lengths are you willing to go for her? And what do you really know about her?"

Ayano still clueless as to the context of what Yui was trying to say, began to shake her by her shoulders, "Yui, what's wrong with you?!"

"The better question is, what's right with you two?" Yui replied. "Could you let go of my shoulders? I can't dry dishes like this."

Ayano pushed Yui back as she let go of her shoulders, then sharply told her, "I have no idea what you're talking about, but know this; I love Kyoko, more than you or anyone ever will, that's something you can't take away from me! You'll never have her, I won't allow it; I've worked at this for the past years of my life, this is something that I can't lose! Okay?!"

"Why Ayano…" Yui aimlessly replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Ayano had never been truly furious in her life, but she was now. She could feel herself fuming, she could feel the anger swelling, and she began to advance towards Yui, who frantically unlocked the door for some reason. Whatever the reason, it didn't slow Ayano's advance towards the kuudere. Ayano raised her head, and was about to yell, when all of the sudden, the door swung open and there was Kyoko.

"Hey, Ayano, Yui; when will the plates be ready?" Kyoko inquired as she walked over to Ayano and threw her arm around her.

Ayano, unsure of what to do or say at this moment, just replied, "Oh yeah…they'll be done soon! Don't worry!"

"Yeah," Yui added, "don't worry."

Ayano shot Yui a sharp glare, but Yui gave a little smile back to Ayano and flashed a look of cockiness with her eyes, much to Ayano's displeasure.

"Hm?" Kyoko inquired as she looked back and forth between her love and her best friend, "Is there something wrong?"

There was a long pause, and then Yui spoke up and replied, "No; nothing's wrong at all…right Ayano?"

Ayano replied, "Yeah, nothing at all." with a hint of a disgusted tone in her voice.

Kyoko looked back and forth again between the two, and then replied, "Well great!" She then turned around to the rest of the crew and said, "Hey everyone! Get dessert ready!"

A collective, "Yay!" burst out from the rest of the crew, as Kyoko exited the kitchen. Yui and Ayano gave each other their final looks as Ayano left with Kyoko.

_'You're stronger than I thought, Ayano…' _Yui thought to herself as she hung up her apron, _'but that won't stop me…'_

The bash continued on with everyone in generally cheery moods, and everyone left wishing each other 'Happy Holidays', and Ayano and Kyoko sharing a passionate kiss; Ayano made sure Yui could clearly see this one.

After everyone left, Yui got to cleaning up and noticed something behind the Christmas tree, a gift. Yui inspected it out of curiosity, and looked for a tag on it. After a few seconds, she finally found it,

To: _

From: Akari Akaza

"Akari," Yui thought out loud, "you somehow erased the presence of your own gift…" she let out a loud sigh, and then continued to clean up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Post Winter Break, January, School Resumes)**

Ayano wasn't normally this elated for school, but realizing that this would be the first time she entered the school as the Student Council President! Previous President, Rise Matsumoto had graduated, and now was Ayano's chance. She dutifully dressed herself, making sure her ponytail was picture perfect, and her uniform was on perfectly as well. She walked to school hand in hand with Kyoko, and then sadly parted ways with her when they reached the Student Council room. They shared a quick kiss, exchanged 'I love you's, and then Ayano entered. She inhaled deeply, and sat down at her new position, the President's desk. The old wooden desk was worn in some spots, and the chair as well, but that made it no less comfortable. Ayano lamented over how fantastic this school year was going to be,

_'It's a new year,' _she thought, _'I'm dating Kyoko, I'm the President, and my hair looks fantastic today! What could possibly go wrong? This year will be greater than every other year combined.'_

As Ayano finished her self-gloating, Chitose walked in the room, with an unusual look of sternness on her face. She seemed worried, drastically about something. Ayano took notice of this, and inquired, "Hey, what's wrong Chitose?"

Chitose looked up and replied with a fake smile, "Oh, n-nothing!" she then sat down and got to work. The day went by as normal, Ayano was on time to classes, all of which Kyoko was in, ran inauguration for the new Student Council members, and then got down to work on that. The amount of forms she had to fill out was surprising, and she wondered how, with her small frame, Rise had gotten through all of this work the way she did. Oh well, no matter. Ayano dutifully continued, and when the day drew to a close, she called to Chitose,

"Chitose!"

Chitose turned around, and inquired, "Yes? What is it Ayano-chan?"

"Stay back for a minute…" Ayano demanded. "There's something wrong."

Chitose's look darkened, and she closed the door and walked over to Ayano's desk. Ayano looked her dead in the eye and began,

"There's something wrong with you, and it's been eating at you all day." Ayano got up and walked over to Chitose, "I don't know what it is, but we're best friends, and you need to tell me these things. What's wrong?"

Chitose fumbled for a second, twiddled her thumbs, and then replied, "Okay…but you're not going to like this…"

"Maybe I won't," Ayano began, "but that shouldn't deter you from telling me it."

Chitose went over to Ayano's desk, and pulled out one of the packets that Ayano hadn't yet signed or read through. It was a rather thick packet, but Chitose seemed to know what she was doing with it. She flipped through page after page, her expression darkening with each page turn, and Ayano's heart rate increasing with each one.

"I don't get it." Ayano said, "What could there be in a packet that-"

"Just wait," Chitose interrupted, "you'll see."

Ayano had never seen Chitose like this, worried, horrified, terrified even. She looked shaken to the core, and nothing was going to faze her in any way. After about 2 minutes, Chitose finally found what she was looking for, and pointed at it.

"Page 54, Section III, Subsection IV, Paragraph II." She darkly read.

"Okay," Ayano blankly replied, "a section in the Student Council President's rules. What's so significant about this section in particular? And why were you reading through the Student Council President's rules? And when did you do it?"

"That's not important." Chitose replied, "What's important is the material covered in this section."

"Okay, I'll bite. What is it?" Ayano replied as she leaned against her desk.

"Section III," Chitose began, "_Relationships._"

Ayano felt a twinge in her heart, as that word rolled off of Chitose's tongue. "Y-yeah?" She shakily replied.

"According to Subsection IV, Paragraph II," Chitose darkly read, a small tear rolling down her cheek, "the…the…" Chitose didn't have the strength to read on. Ayano took note of this, and picked up the paper, and read it out loud for herself.

"The Student Council President is to be set as a role model for the Student Council, and the student body." Ayano read, thinking that this section was arbitrary, and that Chitose was simply worked up over nothing, but nonetheless, she read on, "And so, as of this year…" Ayano looked at the words ahead, and realized what had shaken Chitose so much. She realized that these words here, were going to make or break Ayano this year, literally.

"Keep reading…" Chitose said, her voice more morose than Ayano had ever heard.

"As of this year," Ayano read shakily, "the Student Council Members and President,

may not at any time, be found exhibiting….

a gay relationship."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_A/N: Wow, bombshell, eh? Anyways, sorry that this is being uploaded late, but the holidays have me in a mess. But I still had to find time for you guys (and girls)! So yes, what will become of Kyoko and Ayano now? How will they pull this mess out of the gutters? And what are you guys doing for the holidays? All of these questions will be answered…._

_NOT NEXT WEEK BECAUSE I'M TAKING NEXT WEEK OFF FOR THE HOLIDAYS_

_Sorry :(_

_But for sure, the Tuesday after that, I'll be back, and the story shall continue! I promise! So favorite, review, and why not drop this story a follow? I LOVE writing this story for you guys, and I hope you enjoy reading it. I can't begin to say 'Thank you' enough for all the positive feedback that you've shown for this story and I'll see you, in the new year! Until then, have a fantastic day/month/year of your life!_


	6. The Dance Approaches!

_A/N: _Hiii! Akari Akaza here, and welcome to the newest chapter of 'My Heart's Desire'! And what a doozy this chapter is going to be! A little earlier, the Author was saying-

_Hey guys! What did I miss? Huh? No one's here to do the A/N?_

What are you talking about?! I'm right in front of you?!

_Strange, and I thought I scheduled someone to do it before I left on holiday break…weird…well, no matter. Looks like I have to handle the author's note this go-around, eh?_

My presence has diminished to the point where even the author doesn't notice me…

_Anyways; after a nice refreshing holiday break, I'm back, and ready to continue this emotional roller coaster! And if you'll remember, we last left off with Ayano making the shocking discovery within the Student Council President Guidebook that her relationship with Kyoko may put her position in danger! What's going to happen? Wait, why am I asking that? Of course I know what's going to happen, I'm the author! Haha! Regardless, sit back and enjoy this chapter!_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Someone once said, "Love can conquer all…"; No one quite knows the full context to this quote (_I'm working with a culture starved idiots…_HEY! WHAT WAS THAT!?…_Sorry, Ayano, but if the shoe fits, wear it…)_, and no one really knows if it's entirely true or not. Surely there had to be situations when love was faced with a situation it couldn't overcome, so what did those people do in that situation? Those are the stories you don't hear about, because no one wants you to hear about them; if you did…people might start losing faith…

One thing was for certain…

a certain violet-haired Student Council President was about to find out the real truth behind this quote.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ayano gazed ever onward at the excerpt from the Student Council President contract in her hand, quivering furiously over the words she had just uttered.

_"The Student Council President may at no time be found exhibiting…a gay relationship…."_

Those words stung like poison on Ayano's tongue, each syllable intensifying the intensity of the poison until it rotted Ayano from the core outwards. Even the sunlight that normally shone brightly through the large glass window in the Student Council Room seemed a little melancholic.

Ayano almost collapsed to the floor and began weeping uncontrollably, and she would've too had it been for Chitose, who caught her as she was about to fall, then sat her down in her chair, then stepped out so Ayano could mourn in peace…

_'This whole situation is just FUBAR…' _Ayano thought to herself as she proceeded to grab a tissue and wipe her eyes and blow her nose, _'I thought this would be the best year ever…I was going to be public about my relationship with Kyoko to everyone we met; I was going to proudly walk into class and Student Council Room and declare, "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Toshino Kyoko, my girlfriend!"' _Oh how Ayano had long dreamed of proclaiming those words to those near and far and watch Kyoko's face light up with delight and pride at her as they both leaned in and would share a kiss on the spot. _'But,' _Ayano lamented to herself as she leaned back in her chair and kicked up her feet on her desk, _'I guess I can kiss those dreams…as well as anything I had/have with Kyoko 'Goodbye'…'_

Ayano wiped the tears that continued to stream from her eyes delicately, making sure that her makeup didn't smear too much, hoping that Kyoko wouldn't notice on their date later that day.

_'That's right,' _Ayano thought to herself, _'we have a date later today; dinner and a movie. What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? What am I-wait…' _Ayano's face lit up as she began to formulate her master plan. She grabbed the paper with the rule about gay relationships on it, and re read it half a dozen times until the cogs finally completed their process.

"CHITOSE!" Ayano exclaimed. The Student Council Room's doors slid open, and Ayano's familiar white-haired friend stood on the other side,

"Yes?" Chitose inquired with a perplexed look on her face.

"I figured it out…" Ayano muttered as she stood up slowly.

"Figured what out exactly?" Chitose inquired.

Ayano shifted around until both her elbows rested on her desk and she let out a little chuckle, and declared, "The solution to my relationship!"

Chitose's facial expression quickly lightened up, and she almost immediately jumped for joy, had she not had the common sense to grab two tissues and jam them in her nostrils first (so that her nose blood didn't go flying all over creation), then she inquired of Ayano, "What exactly is your solution?"

"Well," Ayano began, "isn't it obvious? It's right there in the rules. 'The Student Council President may at no time be found exhibiting a gay relationship'!"

"Ayano?" Chitose began, "Are you feeling quite well?"

Ayano sighed, "Hear me out Chitose," she began as she began to read again, "'The Student Council President may at no time be _found_ exhibiting a gay relationship.' _Found._"

Chitose attempted to wrap her head around it at first, but all of a sudden, it became clear. "Wait, you're going to-"

Chitose was interrupted by Ayano's almost evil chuckle, as she declared, "Yep; I'm going to hide my relationship with Kyoko from the school staff and Student Council!" Chitose let out a small round of applause as Ayano took a bow. "Now, the only difficult part of this is going to be Kyoko…" Ayano lamented as she leaned against the large table in the center of the room. "I don't know how I'm going to explain this to her…"

Chitose chuckled, "Don't have to."

Ayano sharply turned her head to Chitose, her expression more vexed than anyone had ever seen it. "What do you mean, 'Don't have to.'?"

Chitose walked over to the doors to the Student Council room, slid them open, and lo and behold, on the other side of them was the love of Ayano's life, the one and only, Kyoko.

Kyoko's energetic blonde attitude was equally matched by her appearance; she wore her standard green winter coat, although this one seemed a little more heavy duty, and brighter, borderline neon in fact. Her gloves were a piano black, decorated with cute little animals that appeared chibi in styling, which was no surprise given Kyoko's otaku nature. She was wearing normal jeans and regular tennis shoes as well. Kyoko quickly dashed over to Ayano and gave her a warm, passionate kiss. This, coupled with Kyoko's momentum from running, knocked the pair to the floor, where their kiss continued. After roughly 20 seconds of passion, the two came back to Earth, and realized that they had to be on their guard around Chitose.

Normally Chitose had excellent control over her nosebleeds, even with Ayano and Kyoko around, engaging in all manner of romantic doings. But lately, Chitose had been losing that control she once had, (suspected to be caused by her glasses control mechanism malfunctioning mysteriously) and her nosebleeds were becoming increasingly more frequent than before; and often more intense as well.

But, these inexplicable occurrences aside, the couple continued their discussion as Chitose scrambled to get her glasses back on.

"Chitose told me the whole thing." Kyoko said as she embraced Ayano tightly.

_'Wow…' _Ayano thought to herself as her embrace on her girlfriend tightened, _'she smells amazing today…are those…white roses I smell?…'_

Ayano snapped out of it long enough to turn to Chitose and ask, "When? How?"

Chitose smiled and replied, "When you were in here moping, I figured that I should go and get her. I found her out by the front gates, waiting to walk home with you. I told her there was a situation going on here with you, and she sprang into action, grabbed me, and as we ran here, I explained everything to her. And overhearing your little 'Master Plan' was just mere eavesdropping."

Ayano cringed a little bit, but eventually lightened up enough (and mustered up enough courage) to discuss things with Kyoko in private.

"So, you're really okay with this?" Ayano demurely inquired as she paced back and forth while Kyoko sat happily at the table.

"Yep, definitely!" Kyoko cheerily replied.

"Why?" Ayano asked, stopping her pacing, "I'm going mental over all of this and here you are, sitting happily and content as ever! How do you do it?!"

Kyoko got up from her seat, and walked one towards Ayano, grabbing her shoulders and looking deeply into her eyes. Ayano thought she could see fire ignite in those icy aquamarine eyes. "Because," Kyoko began, "all my life I've wanted to see you be happy. And that's all I'll _ever_ want. Seeing you as Student Council President, after you've struggled for so long, and seeing that broad smile adorn your face, I know you're truly happy. I know that smile too well; it's the smile you always wear when you're around me."

Ayano's face reddened instantly, and she replied, "Well, don't act like you don't don that smile either."

"How could I not?" Kyoko replied, "I'm at my happiest whenever I'm with you. The kisses and hugs we share, the dates we go on, all of it. It makes me happier than anyone else could ever hope to make me. So if this is to ensure your happiness, then I know that it'll ensure mine too in the process."

Ayano began to tear up, and buried her head deep in Kyoko's chest, as Kyoko delicately stroked her voluminous violet locks (how's that for alliteration?). The two lingered there in that position, for what seemed like hours, but was in all reality around 10 minutes. They exchanged conversation, but Ayano's words were muffled from being spoken into Kyoko's jacket. The two eventually sat down on the floor to continue their conversation.

"So, you understand how this will work, right?" Ayano inquired as she played with Kyoko's hair.

"Yep!" Kyoko replied, "It's simple! Around school, we just act like _really _good friends who seem to have this odd attraction to each other. But the instant we're off campus…" Kyoko grabbed Ayano's hand, picked her up, proceeded to spin her around and catch her in one arm while striking a pose like a dancer, "then it's all diamonds and champagne from there, doll face."

"Eh?" Ayano replied, her look that of a perplexed individual.

"Oh, I don't know." Kyoko replied, still holding Ayano in one arm, "It's just a quote from a movie I saw once."

"You're hopeless…" Ayano replied, giving a small shrug. "But, I like this position…" she continued with a deep blush.

Kyoko blushed a little bit herself, and then embraced Ayano once again, but this time, threw in another deep, passionate kiss. Their tongues intertwined almost instantly, and Ayano thought she felt some drool tentatively stream down the side of her mouth, though, at how close the two were, she was unsure whose it was.

After their epic battle of tongues, the pair cleaned themselves up, and walked off happily out of the Student Council Room, and out to the gates where they carried ever onward to home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The weeks following that were interesting, to say the least. It was bizarre for Ayano and Kyoko to not lovingly embrace each other without having to check and make sure none of their teaches were watching. And even when they did, they could only hold it for so long until they felt that teachers around them would get suspicious. And don't get them started on when they kissed. They were so used to kissing each other before each class without making doubly sure that no teachers were watching, that it almost seemed to kill the mood each time they did. But, emphasis on that 'almost', as the instant their lips touched, they felt the chemistry they had always felt. And that made each other's days just a little brighter. And who could forget the awkwardness Ayano felt when she discussed the new policies with the Student Council?

_'You hypocrite…'_ she would berate herself in her mind each time she spoke of a new policy, knowing full well in her mind that she had broken the majority of these at some point in her life (thanks to Kyoko and everyone at the Amusement Club (although Chitose, Himawari, and Sakurako weren't entirely innocent either)), but was violating the most important one of them all at the immediate moment. Ayano thought it best not to bring up the rule about the President not being able to be in a gay relationship, at least not at the immediate moment. She based this decision when she looked at Himawari and Sakurako, whose hands were interlaced and eyes locked firmly on one another's for the entirety of Ayano's speech. She even thought she saw them sneak a kiss or two.

After Ayano briefed the council on the majority of the rules and regulations, welcomed the first years, organized her desk, did some chores, wrote a novella, backpacked across Europe, found a cure for world hunger, performed a craniotomy, and finished some paperwork, she got to thinking.

_'I don't get it…' _Ayano thought to herself as she sat in her office chair behind her President's desk, _'why is the Student Council President the only one bounded to this ludicrous rule?! Here the student body is free to be gay if they want to, no consequences! So why is it just the Student Council President? Why is always me?…'_ Unusually enough, Ayano was alone in the Student Council Room. Even Chitose had left on early business or something to that accord. So, Ayano did the only thing any productive Student Council President would do; she spun herself around and stared out the window.

The fact that the Student Council Room lied on the 3rd floor provided Ayano with a marvelous view of the school's courtyard. She could see girls freely frolicking, some happy, some sad, some absolutely overjoyed (specifically one blonde and her group of friends that Ayano often observed walking to the Amusement Club), and some blushing at other girls. Ayano had made it practically a past time to pick out the girls she found most often blushing and at which girls they were blushing at, and ship them. She hadn't spent all of that time on tumblr for nothing after all, and she often wondered what they do in their spare time. Come to think of it, Ayano began to wonder more and more what else Kyoko does in her spare time. She knew she wrote doujinshi, watched anime, and read manga, and of course she knew about what happened on their dates, but other than that, Ayano really had no idea at all what Kyoko did for fun.

_'Maybe I should ask her about that on our next date…'_ Ayano thought to herself, _'which reminds me,' _Ayano remembered that February 14th was fast on the approach, only a week away,_ 'Valentine's day isn't that far away…' _Ayano had noticed that love seemed to be in the air more than usual, and the Arts & Crafts Club had been starting to advertise the Valentine's Day dance, and hanging up little red and pink paper chains all over the place. _'The Valentine's Day dance…' _Ayano thought as she absentmindedly began to sign form after form and fill out requisite sheet after requisite sheet, _'originally…our plans were…'_ Ayano thought back to her date with Kyoko a month or two ago, before all of this happened…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**(Early December, Random Fancy Restaurant in Kyoto)**

Ayano and Kyoko sat in the fancy restaurant, at the table that stood directly beneath the huge fancy chandelier above them. The whole place was carpeted with fancy violet velvet material, and over-the-top fancy lights adorned the entire place. Ayano was dressed in a sleek, dark blue dress that complimented her long violet hair. Kyoko was dressed in a simple sweater vest, with dress pants and a tie.

"I've never seen you dress up this much before, Ayano!" Kyoko raved as she sat, waiting for a waiter to come tend to them.

Ayano blushed deeply, and replied, "W-well, same goes for you! I've never seen you dress so boyish before!"

"Well, one of us has to be the seme!" Kyoko cutely replied, "And it looks like that has to be me!"

"Wait! I never agreed to be the uke!" Ayano retorted, however she was instantly hushed by the gentle press of Kyoko's finger against her lips.

"But you didn't ever not agree to be the uke!" Kyoko retorted herself with a smug grin. "And besides, you look absolutely beautiful in that dress!"

If you had never seen a pure shade of red before, you would've needed to look no further than Ayano's face, as that was it's hue right now. "W-w-w-well, you look beautiful too!" Ayano stammered, barely able to contain her elation.

"You really think so, Ayano?" Kyoko inquired, as she leaned over the table and glared into Ayano's eyes intensely.

"When have I ever thought otherwise?" Ayano replied, averting her eyes from Kyoko's so that she wouldn't squeal out of pure delight at the romantic words she had just uttered.

If Ayano was going to think about it more, she didn't have the time, because Kyoko walked over to Ayano and kissed her deeply and warmly, in front of everyone. And you know what? Ayano didn't care in the slightest.

_'I told myself I was going to be more open about this…'_ Ayano told herself as she embraced Kyoko's warm lips, _'after all, this is all I've…_

_ever wanted…'_

The waiter that was about to come tend to them simply stood back, laughed to himself, and clapped a little bit at the couple's pride.

After the couple broke their kiss, Kyoko spoke up and said, "Hey, Ayano, Valentine's Days' going to be coming soon, isn't it?"

"Well, I wouldn't say 'soon' per-say," Ayano replied, "it's still a little over two months away."

"But, that's still relatively close isn't it?" Kyoko inquired with a slight pouty expression upon her face.

"Yeah, I guess." Ayano demurely replied.

"And isn't there normally a dance at the school?" Kyoko inquired.

"I'll save you the time, I was already planning on going to the dance with you." Ayano interjected, her face reddening with each word she said.

"I know!" Kyoko confidently replied, a broad smile adorning her face.

"THEN WHY DID YOU BOTHER ASKING ME?!" Ayano exclaimed.

"Call it, 'insurance', I guess." Kyoko replied with a small smile, and saying the word 'Insurance' in English, proving that she wasn't all that inattentive in English class.

"Insurance?" Ayano replied, pronouncing it more fluently than Kyoko.

"Yeah, just to know for sure." Kyoko replied. "Then again, I don't know why I doubted you. Because I know you'd never doubt me, right?"

Ayano froze for a minute, and blushed deeper than ever before. After recovering from the shock, Ayano replied, "No, never." in the most delicate voice anyone had ever heard.

Kyoko gazed lovingly onwards at Ayano, and grabbed her hand, and intertwined their fingers. "I know I've told you a million times before, but it still doesn't seem like enough. I love you."

Ayano put her other hand around Kyoko's hand that was holding onto hers, and replied, "I love you too. More than you could ever imagine."

The two leaned into their warm, passionate kiss, and the world around them seemed to disappear.

"Hey, Sebastian, what are you doing?" the waiter's other waiter friend inquired of him. "Why are you hiding behind this corner of wall?"

"Shut up Michaelis!" Sebastian replied in a hushed tone. "You don't want to interrupt true love, do you?"

"True love?" Michaelis replied as he too ducked behind the wall to fit the mood.

"Yes, look around the corner." Sebastian replied, as he pointed around the corner.

Michaelis leaned his head around the corner and saw Ayano and Kyoko, engaged in a deep, passionate kiss. "Aww!" Michaelis whispered to Sebastian.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Sebastian replied. "Those two are nigh inseparable. I can tell."

"And from what I've gathered, they always will be." Michaelis replied as he leaned his back up against the wall and looked upwards.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_'We promised each other we'd go to the dance together…' _Ayano thought to herself, finding herself gazing down intently at the Amusement Club clubhouse, _'but what's going to become of that promise now?' _as she thought that, she saw someone emerge from the Amusement Club, it was Kyoko, but she had someone else with her, someone Ayano couldn't quite make out from that viewpoint. _'I wonder what on Earth she could be up to?'_ Ayano wondered to herself as she watched Kyoko and Kyoko's companion move onwards out of the woods and towards, the school?! _'What reason would she have for coming back here? Tuesdays we usually take off from dates so that each of us can work on our own respective things, so she couldn't be coming back to see me, could she?!' _

Ayano fell out of her chair with a loud thud, and then scrambled to her feet to watch Kyoko walk into the front doors to the school.

_'Okay, calm down Ayano,'_ Ayano reassured herself as she dusted her uniform off and straightened her hair, _'if she's coming to see you, that's perfectly normal! That's what any good girlfriend would do, even if they didn't have to or it wasn't scheduled! Wait…' _Ayano froze for a minute and processed what she had just said. _'Come to think of it, it's always Kyoko who shows up to surprise me. Never me to surprise her…' _

Ayano put her fist to the wall nearest to the mini fridge, and slammed her head into it as well, chuckling a somewhat evil chuckle as she said to herself, "Well, that wouldn't be the first time I've been a hypocrite today…now would it?…'

Before Ayano had a chance for further reflection on her statement, Kyoko burst through the Student Council room doors and exclaimed, "Sugiura Ayano!" in an all-to-familiar manner.

Ayano cocked her head at an angle and replied, "Eh?" with an expressionless face.

"Oh, well I was just thinking," Kyoko began as she walked towards Ayano and the two sat down at the table in the middle of the room, "about how you used to always yell, 'TOSHINO KYOKO!' at me, so I wanted to try it with your name once, for old time's sake, and to see what it feels like!"

"And what did you get from all this?" Ayano replied, her face now gaining an expression of disdain.

"Um…" Kyoko pondered, "a feeling of satisfaction?!" she exclaimed.

Ayano pinched Kyoko's cheek tightly, and replied, "Not good enough…"

After Ayano let go of Kyoko's cheek (that was now tinted red, be it from blushing or the pinch, that was irrelevant at the immediate moment), she inquired, "So, what are you doing here? We're both normally busy on Tuesdays, so what could possibly bring you here?"

Kyoko put her icy cold finger to Ayano's lips, and replied, "I have someone with me who can explain that better than I could ever hope to." Kyoko whistled, and the Student Council Room doors slid open with force and in walked,

Chitose!

"Chitose!" Ayano exclaimed, and drew back, almost falling out of her chair, "Wh-what are you doing?! I thought you had urgent business!"

"I did," Chitose replied with a smile, "and I took care of it. It was this!"

Kyoko giggle and replied, "You see, I secretly contacted Chitose and talked to her about the Valentine's Day dance. I know it seems silly that I'm worrying about something that's more than a month away, but…" Kyoko's head fell so that her face was obscured by her bangs, but Ayano couldn't miss the tear that streamed down her lover's face. "I remembered that we were going to go the dance together, before all of this came about…and I still wanted to make that promise a reality!"

Ayano's face was as equally soaked with tears as Kyoko's when Kyoko caught a good look at Ayano, but they wiped each other off and then Ayano inquired, "So, how exactly are you going to go about making that a reality?"

"That's where Chitose comes in!" Kyoko replied, as she gestured to Chitose, "Chitose, if you would, please?"

"I'd be delighted to, Toshino-san!" Chitose replied as she whipped out a briefcase from seemingly nowhere.

"Wh-what's going on here?!" Ayano exclaimed as Chitose opened the briefcase.

"Just relax," Chitose reassured, as she began to pull something from the briefcase, "it's all going to be alright…"

Ayano's life began to flash before her eyes; would this truly be the end? Had Chitose's fantasies taken a dark turn? The answer to all of these questions was obviously 'no', as what Chitose actually produced was a flyer. Not just any flyer, it was a flyer for the Makeup & Beauty club. "Eh?" Ayano uttered, vexed to the core.

"Let me explain," Kyoko began, "Chitose has been secretly going to the Makeup and Beauty club every Tuesday for about a month now ."

"That's the urgent business that I've always been out on." Chitose added with a smile.

"Exactly," Kyoko continued as Ayano sat back, flabbergasted that her girlfriend and her best friend had been conducting this behind her back for this long and Ayano hadn't caught on, "and she's learned a thing or two from that, but I'll get to that later. Exhibit B, please?" Kyoko gestured to Chitose, who rummaged through her briefcase again, this time producing another piece of paper, except this one had an official air about it.

"What is that?" Ayano inquired, finally mustering up the nerve to speak.

"It's the school's plans for the Valentine's Day dance." Chitose replied, "And take a look at what it says here in Paragraph II, sentence III." Chitose handed Ayano the paper, who read through the the document to the point that Chitose had stated.

"It says here," Ayano began, "'The Valentine's Day dance will be a mixer, and students who come as couples will receive 200 yen off of the initial admittance fee.'"

"Bingo!" Kyoko stated, again, in English, and this time, not massacring the pronunciation of it. "And this is where Chitose's makeup experience comes in!"

Chitose produced a professional-grade makeup kit from her briefcase, leaving Ayano to wonder, _'How much room is there in that thing?…'_

"I'm still not following." Ayano replied, her face painted with confusion.

"Oh, silly Aya-nyan!" Kyoko replied, giving Ayano a playful pat on the head, much to Ayano's pleasure. "Let me spell it out for you, Chitose thinks that she's learned enough tricks from makeup class to make me look like a boy!"

Ayano cringed, and she cocked her head as she blandly stated, "Eh?…"

"Think about it, Ayano-chan!" Chitose began, as she set her makeup kit down, "If I do a few touch ups here and there, and style her hair differently, or even cut it, I can successfully disguise Toshino-san as a guy, then you two will be able to go to the dance without the teachers discovering that you two are actually both girls!"

"Exactly!" Kyoko interjected, "That way we can still have out date, thought it may be a little awkward, but I'll ditch the makeup and stuff when we get back to your house afterwards."

"Sounds like a pla-HEY WAIT A MINUTE!" Ayano exclaimed, "WHO EVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT YOU C-COMING OVER TO MY HOUSE AFTERWARDS?!" Ayano trembled at the thought of Kyoko sleeping over at her house. The last time the two had slept together was at the lodge up in Kyoto, and that night was a truly hot and steamy one, but Ayano fell asleep before the pair could go all the way, so now…

"I said something about it." Kyoko replied, "And I guess that's what matters!"

"You really are hopeless…" Ayano replied, her voice resonating with disdain. Ayano then perked up, and inquired, "Wait, what about your clothes?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Kyoko replied. She whistled loudly and a second or two later, the Student Council doors swung open again (_We really need to get the slides fixed on those things…_), this time, it was none other than,

Yui!

Ayano instantly tensed up, as she remembered her previous confrontation she had with Yui at the Christmas party back in December. Scarily enough, Yui's expression or demeanor showed no signs of her having any avarice towards Ayano at the immediate moment. But Ayano knew, she could sense the tension, the fury, the frustration, the jealousy, and a whole cornucopia of other emotions that Yui exuded.

_'I must give her credit though,' _Ayano thought to herself, _'she does an impressive job of hiding it from the public. I'll have to talk to her about potentially joining the drama club…' _then the realization hit Ayano. _'I haven't really talked to her one on one ever since that party…I mean, sure I've talked to her with everyone else around, and when we all have sleepovers at her house every once in a while, and once or twice Kyoko and I have run into her on our dates, but other than that, we haven't talked alone…maybe I should do something about that…'_

Yui dauntingly walked in, taking a seat directly across from Kyoko and Ayano, and fixating her gaze sharply on the two, maintaining a sharp, piercing gaze on the two.

"So, Yui," Kyoko began, her eyes still locked on Ayano, "explain your part in this grand scheme."

"Certainly." Yui began, "I understand you all are in need of some clothes, specifically boyish clothes. And that's where I come in."

"As you could probably tell by all the times we've been over at her house," Chitose began, "Funami-san's casual attire is relatively boyish and lax."

"So we figured," Kyoko began, "that Yui would lend us some clothes to finish it all up!"

"You wouldn't be wrong in that assumption." Yui replied, her face stone cold and expressionless.

"So," Kyoko stated, "with Chitose providing the hair and makeup, Yui providing the clothes, and me providing my body, this plan is foolproof!"

"Out of curiosity," Ayano began, "did you actually take the time to test out how you look as a guy? Or do any test runs of this plan in any way?"

"Nope! Not a one!" Kyoko replied in unison with the rest of the group, giving a thumbs up pose while she was at it.

"YOU'RE ALL HOPELESS!" Ayano exclaimed as she drew back in disbelief.

"But you have to admit, it's a relatively well thought out plan." Chitose interjected. "And the circumstances are in our favor."

"Circumstances?" Ayano inquired.

"Yes," Chitose replied, "for one, it's going to be at night, so the poor light will obstruct the teacher's views of Kyoko, making her disguise more believable. Second, with the amount of people that will be there, I have no doubt that you two will be able blend right in. Also, the amount of people will play in your favor by keeping the teacher's attention drawn to the masses, so you will most likely be able to sneak off and find some privacy." As she uttered those words, her nose began to drip blood a little bit. Yui rushed to her side and handed her a tissue, which Chitose quickly jammed in her nostril.

"So, Ayano," Kyoko began, grabbing Ayano's hand in the process, "are you up for it?"

Ayano appeared apprehensive at first, but that belied her true feelings that she spoke. "Of course I am." Ayano replied, "We made a promise that we'd always be together, way back when we first started dating, and we made a promise to go to this dance with each other no matter what. I'm pretty sure this falls within the category of 'no matter what'." Ayano grabbed Kyoko, kissed her, and then held her tight, and whispered just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, "I love you."

"I love you, too. More than you'll ever know…" Kyoko replied gently, as she held Ayano tighter still. Sometimes love comes at the cost of a bruised rib or two.

"But," Ayano began, still in Kyoko's arms, "if we're going to do this, we should rehearse it a few times, make sure it really is 'foolproof' as you so put it."

"Hm?" Kyoko replied, vexed to the core.

"I can understand that." Chitose chimed in, "I mean, the plan does seem a little ridiculous if you think about it." Ayano giggled lightly at her friend's agreement.

"I concur." Yui said blandly. "This needs to be run over in detail, and inspected for all opportunities for failure."

"Indeed." Ayano concurred, as Kyoko and her broke embrace so she could pace as she spoke, "We can't assume everything's going to go perfectly. We have to do further investigation on this, and determine every variable."

"I guess you guys have a point…" Kyoko sighed, "pessimists…" she muttered underneath her breath, but not quiet enough that no one heard. Everyone just disregarded it, and Yui then walked over to the white board in the corner of the room, popped the cap off of a dry erase marker, and wrote in big, bold letters, 'EVERYTHING THAT CAN GO WRONG'.

"Disturbingly vague, isn't it?" Chitose said with a crooked grin.

"What're you talking about?" Yui replied, her expression cold and emotionless.

Everyone could feel a cold breeze pass through the room, and just responded, "Never mind…" In unison.

For the next half an hour/45 minutes, the crew sat in the room, spewing out random ideas and problems that could ensue upon this plan's initiation. The ideas ranged from, 'Teachers find Ayano and Kyoko', 'Kyoko's disguise malfunctions out of the blue', 'Random boy tries to hit on Ayano', and 'Kyoko and Ayano don't even make it in the front door without being found out', to 'Random earthquake', 'Someone gets fatally wounded', and 'Surprise Russian invasion'. All in all, the crew felt they had covered all of their bases, now they just had to think of contingencies for all of the aforementioned problems.

"If the teachers find the both of you out," Chitose began, sitting back in her chair and putting her hands behind her neck, "the best thing would be to just confess, right?"

Everyone sat silent for a minute, and then Kyoko stood up and spoke, "You make a valid point." Everyone's gaze immediately intensified, "It's best not to hide something when you're hopelessly dug in to a hole, it's best to just 'fess up and hope that the world accepts it. And if they don't, that's their problem. If they can't adjust to someone, or some people, being different from what people have always accepted, then they're the ones that need to change their own closed-minded selves."

Seldom was Kyoko profound, in fact, seldom did Kyoko even give second thought to most things, but when she did, she spoke the truth; blunt and cold in nature it may be, but it was the truth, and it held meaning no matter what. The crew of girls kind of just sat and exchanged looks, unsure of how to respond to what Kyoko had just said. Kyoko, realizing how tense she had just made the situation, just sat back down to Ayano, and held her hand tightly. Ayano followed suit.

"Look," Ayano began, her voice slightly shaky, "we've all had a rough day today; what with all the planning, plotting, and this just now, we need a break. Who's up to go somewhere to get something to eat?"

Kyoko nodded in agreement, and nuzzled up close to Ayano. Ayano wrapped her arm around her love, and she thought she could feel the simultaneous tension and fear coming off of Kyoko.

Chitose nodded, and then said, "Yeah, how about the restaurant near the corner store?"

"I love that place…" Ayano trailed off, and then got up, Kyoko still in her arms, and walked out of the Student Council Room, saying, "I'll be waiting for you guys out by the front gates, don't make us wait too long!" before she and Kyoko left and softly slid the door shut behind them.

Yui put the cap back on the dry erase marker and began to erase the contents of the white board.

"I know what you're up to." Chitose darkly said, almost perfectly imitating Chizuru's tone that she used only when she spoke to Kyoko.

Yui stopped erasing right in the middle of the board, looked blankly forward, and then sharply turned her head and said, "What're you talking about?"

"You know full well what I'm talking about" Chitose responded, her tone as cold as ever. She began to walk over towards Yui. "Yui," Chitose began, Yui was stunned at Chitose's using her first name and at her lack of honorifics, "I think I understand where you're coming from, but at the same time, I don't' understand why you're going about it the way that you are."

Yui put down the eraser, and leaned one arm on the table, her glance still as cold and stern as ever. "I already said, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, drop the koi act," Chitose replied as she advanced closer and closer to Yui, "you know that you love Kyoko."

The pleasant breeze in the room suddenly became colder, and Yui locked eyes with Chitose. They blinked in unison, not letting either of them make a single move.

"Your point?" Yui replied as she took a step closer to Chitose.

"Look," Chitose began, "I'm sorry, but the feelings not mutual. I can tell whenever I'm around those two, they love each other more than words could ever say, and anything you throw at them, they're going to overcome it, no matter what it takes. I've never seen them so happy, either of them. Surely you can tell that whenever you're around Kyoko, can't you?"

"Of course I can!" Yui snapped back, now mere inches away from Chitose's face. Chitose's face and interest peaked when Yui pulled that outburst. "Don't you get it?! That's why I have to have her! I have to secure her happiness! That's all that matters to me; and that's all that ever will mater to me!"

Chitose straightened her glasses, then leaned in, and hugged Yui tightly. Yui was taken aback by this kindness, and didn't know what to do. "It's ok. I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you." Chitose whispered lightly into Yui's ear.

The duo heard voices in the hallway that were rapidly approaching the door.

_"Honestly, how do you forget something like your jacket?" _Ayano said, her voice full of disbelief.

_"The same way that you forgot your purse on our date last week." _Kyoko jokingly replied as she could be heard throwing her arm firmly around Ayano.

_"TH-THAT WAS FOUL LUCK AND YOU KNOW IT!"_ Ayano exclaimed, her face not needing to be seen as it was pretty obvious she was blushing crimson red right now.

_"Haha!" _Kyoko chuckled, _"We really both are hopeless!"_

_"One of us more than the other…"_ Ayano murmured.

"They're going to be here soon." Yui stated, still in Chitose's embrace.

"Yeah…" Chitose replied. She broke the embrace between her and Yui, and gathered up her bag. "We'll talk more about this later…" Chitose trailed off, and then slid open the door, only to be greeted by the sight of Ayano and Kyoko mid-tongue kiss. After about 10 or so seconds, the two opened their eyes and saw a near-comatose Chitose staring at them, her shoes tinted deep red from the blood that was falling on them from her nose. After everyone scrambled her down to the nurse's office, they all walked out of the school, down the stairs, and out to the gate. The date was February 7th, 2014. In one week, their master plan would be hatched, and it could only go one of two ways. Spectacular, or catastrophic. As the three girls walked out of the school's gates, the cold February wind nipping at their faces, Kyoko and Ayano hand in hand, and Yui glaring coldly at the two, they all unknowingly, simultaneously thought,

_'What have I gotten myself into?…'_

_A/N: Hey guys! Looks like I have to handle the ending A/N too! Jeez, genius never rests…Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of 'My Heart's Desire', and I want to sincerely apologize for the happenings of last week and the broken promise. I'm sincerely sorry, I can't believe that I was so lax that I would fail to get this up on that Tuesday, but allow me to explain:_

_When I was writing this, I got about halfway through and I thought, _'This isn't what I would want it to be…I need to change it…change it all…' _and so, I ditched that draft and completely rewrote this Chapter from the ground up, and I realized that sometimes, you have to redo something to make it what you want. Anyways…I really do hope you enjoy this, and I hope that you look forward to the next chapter, 'The Dance'! And oh wowza that one's gonna be a doozy. _

_Oh, also, I was thinking that at the start of end of each chapter, I would do one of those 'Next Time on…' bits where I insert a few a lines from the next chapter to keep you guys in suspense, what do you think? Leave comments in reviews, which I really hope that you guys leave, and, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, leave it a like/favorite!_

_Well, I'll see you guys next week, for sure! Until then, Jaa ne!_

_Oh, Akari? When did you get here?_

"I've been here the whole time!"

_Really? Wow, your presence is basically non-existent..._

"Then do something about that!"

_Yeah, yeah. Wanna do the outro?_

"Really? C-can I?"

_Yeah, sure! _

"W-wow, thanks! *cough cough* Okay guys! Until next week, Jaa-"

_Jaa ne!_

"Must you always have the last word?"

_Yep!_


	7. (INTERLUDE) Boutiques and Bosoms!

_A/N: _

"Hey, Himawari!"

"Oh, hey Sakurako…"

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just that, well…"

"Well what?"

"We didn't get any screen time last week!"

"We got mentioned…"

"That's not good enough! Author!"

_*Yawn* What? I was taking a nap…_

"We demand more screen time!"

"Yeah, what Himawari said!"

_Uh girls…_

"Now I know that may not be easy, but I think Sakurako and I are underrated in this series…"

_Uh, __**girls**__…_

"…but I think that you could pen us in some more screen time!…"

_**Girls…**_

_"…At least give us a paragraph or two!"_

_**GIRLS!**_

"What?"

_I had planned to dedicate this whole chapter to you two!_

*moe blink* "Eh?"

_Yeah! This is an interlude!_

*raises hand*

_Yes, Sakurako?_

"What's an interlude?"

_It's like a break in-between the main story where we distract and focus on one thing in particular that doesn't get enough attention as it should. You've probably seen them on albums and stuff like that. _

"Oh, well, that sounds cool!"

"Yeah, Sakurako and I thank you a lot!"

_Ah, no problem, I felt it was necessary. Now don't just sit around, you guys have to get to the story, hayaku, hayaku!_

"Thanks again! C'mon Himawari!"

"Coming!"

_Alright, now that they're out of the way, time to get down to the A/N….Oh, you're all here…Well this is awkward…Um, ONWARD TO THE STORY!_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Ayano announced that the meeting was adjourned, Himawari and Sakurako rushed out of the Student Council Room, hand in hand, happier than they had ever been. It didn't feel unusual for them to be getting along one minute then 'battling' another, that's just the way their relationship worked. But no matter what happened, they always ended up making up, busies and messy hair inclusive. They reached the school gates in no time flat, and got to talking.

"So," Sakurako began as the couple continued walking, "what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Himawari replied, "what do you want to do?"

"Oh no…" Sakurako said, her voice ridden with horror.

"What is it?" Himawari inquired.

"It's starting…" Sakurako replied, her voice now sounding more like a narrator from a horror movie.

Himawari was getting a little frightened at these happenings, and shakily asked, "Wh-what?"

"The 'What do you want to do?' Loop…" Sakurako's voice melodramatically echoed as Himawari gazed onward with a blank stare, her terror completely gone at the realization that this was merely one of Sakurako's gags.

"What are you talking about?" Himawari asked as she gave Sakurako a little shake to snap her out of it.

Upon regaining her senses, Sakurako replied, "Well, in any anime or manga, whenever anyone asks 'What do you want to do?' and someone replies with the exact same thing, it just goes in an infinite loop until they eventually arrive at some location that serves as a plot device or something like that, so the author can avoid scripting intricate conversation, and merely play off of even based occurrences."

Again, Himawari gave a blank expression to Sakurako and just said, "Eh?"

"Oh forget it…" Sakurako said with a heavy sigh.

"Jeez, we've been going out for two months now," Himawari moaned as they reached a crosswalk, "and I _still _don't get you sometimes."

"What's there to get?" Sakurako inquired, her face painted with curiosity.

"I mean, like, the inner machinations of your mind." Himawari replied as she poked Sakurako playfully on her forehead. "Wow, that sounds kind of dorky now that I say that out loud…"

"Yep!" Sakurako cheerfully agreed.

"You weren't supposed to agree with that!" Himawari replied, flustered.

The January-to-February transition around the town was showing in a multitude of ways. Storefronts were going full out for Valentine's day, as pink and red flourished everywhere. Flower shops set up bouquets of roses of all shades and hues, and bakers stood signs outside their doors and in their windows that all read generally the same thing; 'VALENTINE'S DAY CAKES, CHOCOLATE ARRANGEMENTS, ALL _% OFF', or something to that accord. Even the town fountain had little hearts hung up all around it, along with Cupid statutes that adorned the streetlights as well. Bridal shops were also prepping up, as Valentine's day was, as expected, notorious for weddings. They offered discounts on dresses that seemed outrageous, and Sakurako and Himawari intensely questioned how they managed to stay financially afloat, given the ridiculous prices they were slashing.

"Hey, Himawari?" Sakurako began as the two continued down the main boulevard, still hand in hand.

"Yeah, what's up?" Himawari replied as she gazed around at more of the attractions and scenery.

"Did you ever window shop at bridal stores?" Sakurako inquired, as she gazed onward at a bridal shop or two.

Himawari stopped for a moment, and let herself be pulled by Sakurako over towards a nearby bridal shop window. The mannequins were clothed in the most elegant dresses the girls had ever seen in their lives. White had never looked so gorgeous, as the lace on the dresses seemed to glisten in the winter sunlight.

"You know what?" Himawari began as she gazed ever onward at the beautiful dresses, "I don't think I ever have…" she wistfully finished.

"Ever what?" Sakurako inquired, her tone, one of pure mesmerization and awe at the sight that she was beholding.

Himawari shot a moe-style glance at Sakurako, and replied, "Window shopped for bridal dresses. You asked me if I ever had, remember?"

Sakurako countered with her own clueless look, and simply said, "I don't know what you're talking about, but let's go!" and dragged Himawari into the bridal shop.

"JeeeEEEzzz!" Himawari moaned as she was yanked inside the store.

The store's exterior belied the elaborate interior. Upon entrance, the girls took off their jackets and exposed their school uniforms underneath. Inside, eloquently dressed mannequins made everything look appealing, and the staff there were equally as beautiful. The walls were painted eggshell white, and all over women walked in and out of dressing rooms. Some raved over how the dress fit perfectly, and that they wouldn't change a thing, while others ranted over the most minute of details, such as the threading didn't look flashy enough, or the dress didn't show enough of their midriff. Tables were also littered around the store with minor jewelry and accessories, to top off the look, but most were, in all actuality, things that the store had overstocked on that hey need to liquidate quickly.

Sakurako barged forward on into the store, leaving behind Himawari, who took a more delicate approach, and cautiously approached everything she could.

_'What am I doing in here?' _Himawari thought to herself as she looked over at an energetic Sakurako who was looking at herself in the mirror with various little trinkets on her wrists or pendants around her neck. Himawari softly smiled to herself, and resumed looking through sample dresses, and thought to herself, _'Oh yeah, that's why…' _

After about five minutes or so, Himawari reconvened with Sakurako, and a store attendant came over to check on the couple, asking, "Hi, I'm Grace; is there anything I can do for you two today?" The woman in question, was a young girl, she couldn't've been more than 22, with dark auburn hair that was tied up in a bun, glasses, and a white low cut shirt that exposed the cleavage of her more than noticeable midriff. Himawari cringed a little bit upon noticing that detail, but quickly regained her composure as the woman gazed onward with a cheery smile.

"Oh, n-no," Himawari shakily began as she crossed her arms over her midriff, "we're just looking-"

"Is there any way we could try on some of these dresses?!" Sakurako interrupted, eliciting a wail from Himawari.

"Why of course!" Grace cheerily replied. She led the couple to the fitting rooms, sat them down on a couch in a room with a 180 degree mirror, then left for a minute, and came back with a moving rack that was lined full of dresses. Both girls' eyes widened as they walked over to the rack and sifted through the dresses, until they both selected one. Grace squealed out of glee at the two, then led Himawari to her dressing room, and pointed Sakurako towards hers.

"Wait, how come you have to take Himawari to her dressing room," Sakurako began, "but I have to go to mine myself?!"

"I have some things I want to discuss personally with Himawari." Grace cheerily replied, "Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of trying to steal her from you." Grace gave a playful wink at Sakurako.

"Okay," Sakurako equally as playfully replied, "but don't succumb to her deadly (booby) charms!"

Grace giggled, "I'll try not to!"

"Did I hear something else in there?" Himawari inquired.

"It was nothing!" Sakurako replied as she dashed off to her dressing room.

Himawari heaved a sigh before going along with Grace to her fitting room. Himawari took off her school uniform, and hung it up, but as she was about to turn around, she felt two hands grab right around her breasts; hands that were, upon a look behind her, revealed to be none other than Grace's. She instinctively squealed, pushed Grace's hands away, and backed up. Grace let out a playful giggle and stated,

"Yep, we're the same cup size!"

"Huh?!" Himawari exclaimed.

Grace sat down as Himawari disregarded the previous happening and went on with putting on her dress. But as Himawari got the dress on, Grace began to explain herself.

"I was just like you in middle school." Grace began. "Madly in love, but heavy-chested for my age. So when the other girls saw me, even the girl I loved at the time, they tended to get a little…"

"Jealous?" Himawari said as she pulled the dress up around her waist.

"Precisely…" Grace replied, her tone somewhat morose, "But I guess that's the way some people are. Some people flourish before others, and some don't. The key is figuring out how to make the best of your situation."

Himawari mulled over these words right as she was pulling the dress over her breasts. She noticed just then that the dress was a strapless dress, meaning only one thing; cleavage. And in Himawari's case, plenty of it.

"Did you do this on purpose?!" Himawari exclaimed as she finished putting her dress on, spun around, and pointed at her midriff.

"Definitely!" Grace replied as she struck a thumbs up pose and stuck her tongue out to the side.

_'Not even denying it?…' _Himawari thought to herself, _'Well, at least she's honest…'_

Grace looked up at the ceiling as she continued her story, "Anyways, long story short, the girl and I got in an argument over the chest thing and didn't speak for that entire first year of middle school. I was devastated, I'd thought that I'd lost my one and only true love; but you know what?"

Himawari sat down on the dressing room bench next to Grace as she inquired, "What?"

"When we finally got back to talking again," Grace continued, "I accepted what hand I was dealt. Not only that, but I figured if I had this hand, that I was going to flaunt proudly for all to see! So the next day, totally against school dress code, I came to school in a low cut shirt, much like the one I'm wearing now, and made sure to accentuate as much of my breasts as I could without showing them bare. That day was the day I was expelled from Nanamori Girl's Middle School, but it was also the day my future wife and I shared our first kiss. I remember waiting outside the school for her, and how she ranted and raved about why I had done a crazy thing like that, but after a minute, she calmed down and told me that she was proud of me."

"Proud?!" Himawari gasped as she almost fell out of her seat.

"Yep," Grace replied, "she said she was proud of me because I didn't hide what I had for once, and had not only flaunted it in the face of the student body, but the staff as well. Moral of the story: be a little proud about what you have once in a while, and it'll pay off big in the future. Trust me." Grace gazed down at a locket that she pulled out of her pocket that had a picture of her and some other girl. She had a lower lip piercing on the girl's left hand side, long, black hair that had blue and yellow streaks, a tattoo of a key on her left arm, and she just exuded an aura of a punk rocker. "Yume…" Grace pined, "every moment we're apart hurts more than anything could ever hope to…but you know the feeling right?"

Himawari's face was flushed a deep red, "Well…." she demurely replied.

"_I'M REAAAAADYYYYY!_" Sakurako exclaimed from outside the dressing room.

Himawari perked up and her face was painted with a colossal smile, as it always was every time Sakurako pulled these antics of hers. However, Himawari quickly became self-aware of her actions due to Grace's giggle.

"Come on." Grace said as she calmed down, "It would be rude to make your bride-to-be wait."

Himawari nodded in consent, and slowly walked out of her dressing room with Grace in tow, carrying the tail of her wedding gown. When Himawari saw Sakurako dressed in the gorgeous gown, she couldn't believe it. Sakurako's dress actually had straps, a veil, and was embroidered with small rhinestones about the neck area. Sakurako was a vision of loveliness, and somehow, you could tell Sakurako felt the same way about Himawari. The two walked up to each other, intertwined hands and fingers, and walked up to the enormous mirror. The two admired one another, exchanging compliments, until Sakurako said,

"Um, Himawari?"

"Hm?" Himawari inquired as she turned to Sakurako.

"Y-you're chest is in full view…" Sakurako demurely stated.

Himawari was taken aback by this rarely seen side of Sakurako; she was like a lost little kid who didn't know which way to go, but spoke her opinion indifferently. "Yes," Himawari replied, "Yes it most definitely is. Do you…like it?"

_'Brace for boob joke in 3…2…1…' _Himawari thought to herself as she anticipated Sakurako's response.

"Yes." Sakurako boldly replied as she grabbed Himawari's other hand and drew her close. "I most definitely do. You should do it more often."

Himawari was in shock and awe for yet another time today. She turned to Grace for a minute who gave an encouraging nod to Himawari, as if to say, _"Go for it!"_

That was all the encouragement Himawari and Sakurako needed. They drew each other closer, and passionately kissed. They felt a little awkward at first in the presence of a semi-perfect stranger(despite the fact that they had kissed multiple times in public, Comuket for example), but this one felt different. It was as if this kiss signified a lifelong commitment, the culmination of every emotion that they had ever felt, as if to say that they did truly accept each other for who they are, and ever will be.

It was true love; true, eternal, love.

The couple thanked Grace for all of her help, left the boutique, and continued their walk home. Their conversation continued as always, they began with the simple topic of the release of one of their favorite artist's new album, but somehow they strayed off on the tangent of the overuse of the 'Breaking the 4th Wall' tactic in media. As the two walked down their neighborhood's walkway, Sakurako brought up an interesting topic,

"Hey, Himawari?"

"What is it?" Himawari inquired as she tightened up her winter jacket with her free hand.

"You know our kiss back at the boutique?" Sakurako inquired.

Himawari's face was instantly painted a deep red, but she was able to mutter out, "Y-y-yeah?"

"Do you think that Ayano and Kyoko ever had a kiss like that?" Sakurako inquired.

Himawari pondered the subject for a minute, but when they reached the front door to Himawari's apartment building, she finally spoke up, "If they love each other like we do, definitely. But what's up with bringing them up randomly."

"Just making pleasant conversation." Sakurako replied with a smug grin. The two kissed, then went their separate ways. As Himawari entered her apartment, she cupped her hands over her heart, and moaned a little bit to herself before collapsing on the floor out of glee.

Kaede walked out of the hallway to her home, up to her sister and said, "Nee-chan, not again…" Kaede sighed as she grabbed Himawari by her feet and dragged her onwards to her room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_A/N: Well, now that they've got their screen time for this week…Thanks for reading this little interlude! I know you were expecting the dance and I promise you that's coming next week, I'm just putting some finishing touches on it even as I type this and wowza baby this thing is a doozy if I ever saw a doozy, but I think you're going to like how it all ends up. Also, pardon the shortness of this, but I have exams this week, and that interfered with my ability to lengthen this, as I had to divert my attention to that, but next week, it's back to the natural length! Anyways, as always, rate, review and follow this story to keep up-to-date with everything that happens with this lovely little tale! Again, I can't thank everyone here enough for taking the time to read this story, and I'm happy that I can do something people truly enjoy._

_**Also, **__I'm now working on another story in the Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) section of FanFiction called, __**"High School Daze"**__, and it's basically an AU where humanity's strongest are forced into surviving the trials and tribulations of average high schoolers and the drama, comedy, and romance that ensues. If you could, and if you enjoy my writing here, go check it out, I PROMISE it'll be worth the read! _

_And if you don't, that's ok, I still love you! 3_

_Until then, have a fantastic day/week/month/year of your life, and I will see you next week!_


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